Four months ago, I got on a bus at the Hunter Welcome Center. I was crying, I was eating my last La Popular burrito, and I was quite nervous for the days ahead as I headed to DFW for my transatlantic adventure. And what an adventure it has been. I could now share with you my list of things to do in Oxford, but I won't bother with that. I ... [Read More…]
Students take film internship in LA
Los Angeles Film Studies Center provides ACU students who are interested in film an opportunity to enroll in a one-semester film school program. This year, three ACU students are taking part in the program. The program is run by the entity Best Semester, which is part of Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. According to Best ... [Read More…]
Packing for spring break: backpack edition
Packing for trips has never been my strong suit. When I left for Oxford, the thought of packing for four months in one suitcase was terrifying. Thankfully, with the help of my mother, I managed to make it here with all the important things. Now an entirely new task lies before me: packing for 10 days in a backpack. On any given three-day ... [Read More…]
La importancia de un idioma extranjero
Bear with me. I spent at least three hours trying to read 46 pages of Cien Anos de Soledad two nights ago, and I am on a Spanish kick. But really, as difficult as reading a magic realism novel in a foreign language is, and no matter how ridiculous I sound when I stutter and spit out the words as I attempt to read aloud in class, I'm getting ... [Read More…]
Williams heads to Mexico City for next big project
After producing numerous documentaries and books, Dr. Vernon Williams, professor of history, will spend his spring break in Mexico City to conduct interviews for his next film about the Pancho Villa Expedition, or Punitive Expedition, of 1916. "The story of the film is going to be the story of this expedition," Williams said. "It will not just ... [Read More…]
First exchange student in Japan returns
Though born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Ann Rachel Katagiri was mostly a stranger to the United States until the age of 14. At 6 months old, she moved to Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, near Tokyo. She had family in Texas, her mother's home, whom she visited every two years. But it wouldn't prepare her for her unexpected move to the South to attend ... [Read More…]
Change is inevitable, especially across the pond
I came to the United Kingdom with the idea that I was going to, in a sense, reinvent myself. I saw things in myself that I wanted to be different, so I figured being Oxford would be a good place to begin something totally new and different inside of me. Now three weeks into this crazy, weird thing called Study Abroad, I'm gradually learning ... [Read More…]
The importance of being English
Defining a culture as a whole is a difficult task to take on. It involves much more than a brief glance or quick read of a Wikipedia page. Culture is more than events in a history textbook or foods on a table; rather, it makes its home in the psyche of the people. One must first cut through layer upon layer of stereotypical thought to arrive at ... [Read More…]
Montevideo program welcomes three students
As ACU said goodbye to its study abroad students Wednesday morning, Montevideo, Uruguay was getting ready to welcome its smallest group of students yet. Only three students, all of them women, committed to study abroad at the Montevideo site this spring. "Things like this are kind of cyclical, and it's hard to explain," said Stephen ... [Read More…]
Students share art from summer abroad
Artwork from the Department of Art and Design Study Abroad trip is on display at the ACU Downtown Gallery with works of watercolor, acrylic paintings and photographs. In the show, titled "Postcards from Abroad," students such Crysta Cook, sophomore history education major from Abilene, and Madelyn Wischmeyer, sophomore graphic design and ... [Read More…]