I awoke to the sound of buses and church bells outside my window. Sunlight flooded my room and I looked outside at the narrow streets and the students, tourists, and professors on the sidewalk below. Snippets of their chatter floated up to me. There was a man selling books across the street. Music was playing in the church.[[{"fid":"630","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Pembroke College in the morning","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_folder[und]":"1"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Pembroke College in the morning","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_folder[und]":"1"}},"attributes":{"alt":"Pembroke College in the morning","style":"width: 300px; height: 225px; float: left; margin: 4px;","class":"media-element file-default","data-delta":"1"}}]]
This is how my mornings as a Thouron Summer Prize Fellow at Pembroke College, University of Cambridge, began: exploring Cambridge life outside my window, breathing it in, unfailingly staggered by the age and beauty of the buildings around me. (Pembroke College, where I was living, was founded in 1347, a whopping 429 years before the United States became a country.)
Before class, I would run: down the little side streets outside of Pembroke to the River Cam, past the cows grazing and the punters sliding down the river. Often, I would get caught in a random five-minute downpour, and return to Cambridge dripping wet.
I generally had two classes each day and a supervision meeting once a week. I studied twentieth-century English culture and eighteenth-century English literature and visual culture, and my supervision (an independent research project, conducted under the supervision of a Cambridge professor) focused on Virginia Woolf and the female literary tradition. One of my classes met in King’s College, which particularly stands out due to its grand architecture and its cathedral. I would pinch myself walking down cobblestoned streets, past flawless green lawns, into ancient college buildings.[[{"fid":"631","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Group of Thouron Fellows","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_folder[und]":"1"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"2":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Group of Thouron Fellows","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_folder[und]":"1"}},"attributes":{"alt":"Group of Thouron Fellows","style":"width: 300px; height: 225px; float: right; margin: 4px;","class":"media-element file-default","data-delta":"2"}}]]
In between classes, the Thouron fellows would meet for lunch at the Pembroke College Café. In the evening, we would walk over to Parker’s Piece, a sprawling park in the middle of Cambridge, and play pickup soccer amidst the locals. We would get dinner at the Pembroke dining hall or a pub—which were particularly fun, lively places to watch the Euro Cup matches. At night, we would go to the beautiful Pembroke College Library to study, our favorite bar, The Regal, or hang out in one of each other’s rooms and talk until the wee hours of the morning.
[[{"fid":"629","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Thouron Fellows with Sir Roger","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_folder[und]":"1"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"3":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Thouron Fellows with Sir Roger","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_folder[und]":"1"}},"attributes":{"alt":"Thouron Fellows with Sir Roger","style":"width: 300px; height: 206px; float: left; margin: 4px;","class":"media-element file-default","data-delta":"3"}}]]Tuesday evenings, the Thouron fellows had a seminar with Sir Roger Tomkys, former English ambassador to Syria and prior Master of Pembroke College. We enjoyed delicious bread, cheese, and wine, discussing topics ranging from aesthetics to healthcare to politics. It was an incredible opportunity to learn from and talk with Sir Roger, and Tuesday nights were some of our most treasured of the program.
Looking back on my time at Cambridge, I am struck by the way in which I was able to balance my academic and social lives in a way that I often feel I am unable to do at Penn. My memories mix: reading Virginia Woolf for hours in the King’s College Library with light filtering in through the stained-glass windows; dancing on weekends with my friends; my supervisor challenging me to look at literature through a new lens; exploring Cambridge, Oxford, Scotland, and Spain with the other Thouron fellows; dressing up for formal halls; punting on the river; writing papers; and forging deep friendships with the other fellows.
The Thouron Summer Prize encompasses countless opportunities, but ultimately it’s about family. It shows you the power of the relationships you can build in eight weeks. My life at Cambridge helped me discover the kind of life I want to lead—personally, academically, and socially—now and in the future. I am thankful to the Thouron family for their incredible generosity in making this life-changing experience available to undergraduates. It remains with me, in the books on my shelf, the pictures on my wall, and the countless memories in my heart.
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Emily Hoeven is a current senior in the College, studying English and French. After graduation, she hopes to spend a year teaching English to high school students in France. She writes the biweekly column "Growing Pains" for The Daily Pennsylvanian and is co-founder of the website PennFaces.
The views expressed in contributed blog posts belong solely to the indicated author and do not necessarily respresent those of the Center for Undergraduate Research & Fellowships or those of the University of Pennsylvania.
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