A Dream Walk to Sheldonian…

‘Unlimited Choices’
It is almost a month since I arrived at Oxford, the city of Dreaming Spires. By far, its one of the most beautiful places I have ever lived or visited – Its an architectural wonder. From the serenity of Port Meadows to the beauty of Brasenose, a day traveller will be spoilt for choices that Oxford offers.

One of the striking features of this small city is its calmness in the midst of all the vibrancy. The port meadow, one of the last places yet to be invaded by modern life, offers the best of nature. The beauty of the hills and the streams that surround is a treat to the eyes. Guess what, I live only a mile away from the meadows – enticing isn’t it?

A week of pub-crawls, several dinners, and meetings – we are all set to get the best out of Oxford life. The striking feature of the cohort is the diversity of the students from all parts of the world. There are 250+ students from 43 countries speaking multiple languages. In a few weeks, I had the opportunity to connect with friends from all parts of the world. Further, The business school’s tripartite structure with the college and university provides an excellent opportunity to interact with scholars from other faculties.

‘A Social Business School’
While most B-schools discuss about value creation, the Saïd Business School focuses on long-term social impact that we have on the society. To that end, the curriculum now includes a Global Opportunities and Threats (GOTO) program that seeks to address a number of long-term social impact issues such as increase in life expectancy, decrease in fertilization rate, and immigration issues. As part of GOTO curriculum, we research on these issues and discuss with leading faculties and scholars across the world. In my opinion, Saïd Business School is just not a business school, but a Social Business School.

After a fortnight of networking and career-oriented events, we started our classes on core business courses such as accounting, finance, and economics. Although I had learnt these courses earlier through CFA, the insights provided by our professors were eye-openers. Learning is only one aspect, but understanding the back-end mechanics is a different experience – A league apart.

‘Part of Tradition’
This week, as part of matriculation, I walked to the Sheldonian Theatre in dark suits, traditional sub fusc, and mortar cap. When our vice-chancellor read the following words, a feel of happiness ran through my body. I am sure most of my friends felt the same, for we have officially become Oxonians!

'Scitote vos in Matriculam Universitatis hodie relatos esse, et ad observandum omnia Statuta istius Universitatis, quantum ad vos spectent, teneri.'


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