Meet a student!

“If you are super passionate about books and want to talk about them with people just like you, then the Oxford English degree might just be what you're looking for.”

 

books

Hello! My name is Jessie and I’m going into my second year studying English Language and Literature at Christ Church. My love for English started when I was really small, I've always loved reading books and think I probably need glasses now just because I spent so long reading at night, under my covers with a torch. 

My journey to Oxford started when I came on a school trip to the Oxford open days in Y12, but back then I never thought I'd actually be able to get in here. I thought there was a certain kind of person that went to Oxford, and that it definitely wasn't me! I actually thought I wanted to go to drama school, which seems so strange now. The thing I wish I’d known back then is that being really excited about your subject is so important, if you are super passionate about books and want to talk about them with people just like you, then the Oxford English degree might just be what you're looking for. It's not all about books either, this year I've written about painting, sculpture, film and theatre too! 

The person who inspired me most to apply was my sixth form English teacher, he always used to send me new book recommendations, even on my gap year, and it really helped when it came to writing my personal statement, as well as helping me find books I genuinely enjoyed reading outside of the (sometimes really dull) school curriculum. My all-time favourite book is Djuna Barnes' really strange but beautiful, modernist novel Nightwood and I read it for the first time this year for my exams, after it was mentioned in a tutorial. I had written on Virginia Woolf - and some other really cool, rule-bending female writers -  for that week's essay, and I think my favourite thing about Oxford is the way that tutorials and lectures really encourage you to follow the things you are interested in! After I graduate, I hope to maybe go into editorial work or publishing, as this year I have become super interested in the process behind making books, but I am enjoying myself so much I might apply for a post-graduate course first!