Our day began with bagels, eggs, and English breakfast tea at Pickwick Hall, our home in London's famous Bloomsbury neighborhood. (If we're lucky, Associate Director Sam Novack's dog, Ronin, pays us a visit!) The weather was perfect as we walked past Bloomsbury Square at the end of our block to our neighborhood "Tube" stop and took the subway to Paddington Station. The Tube (everyone's nickname for the London Underground) is great for people-watching, glimpsing bits of British culture, quiet conversation between friends, and journal writing.

At Paddington Station, we boarded a train for the short trip to Oxford. Once there, it felt like we had the town center to ourselves (Oxford's students were on break). Ginya, an SEGL graduate and current teacher with Oxford master's degrees, gave us a tour of major landmarks: we snapped photos in front of Radcliffe Camera and the Bodleian Old Library, saw the statuette that inspired C.S. Lewis to write the character of Mr. Tumnus from The Chronicles of Narnia, and more.

Then we strolled to All Souls College–one of Oxford University's most famous colleges–to meet with Cécile Fabre–Professor of Philosophy, Politics, and International Relations at Oxford–as well as Avril Haines, President Biden's Director of National Intelligence. (The DNI oversees both the FBI and CIA.) First, Haines gave us a tour of All Souls - yes, the former DNI of the United States gave us a personal tour, including a peek inside the College's normally-restricted 16th century library! (A fun note: All Souls was founded in 1438 by Henry VI - we are reading Shakespeare's play about his father in English class.)

A wood-carved classroom in the library served as the site for a two-session master class from Fabre and Haines. Among other topics, Professor Fabre's session tackled the ethical and legal dimensions of the repatriation of contested objects like the Parthenon Marbles at the British Museum - our first week case study.

Professor Fabre stayed for our next conversation with Haines, who is currently a researcher at All Souls. Haines shared riveting stories from her career and helped students to reflect on the responsibilities of public leadership, the tension between individual judgment and institutional systems, and what it takes to speak up in challenging moments and create space for meaningful dissent.

After the session, students buzzed with excitement over lunch at Oxford Covered Market, a famous local bazaar founded in 1774 and featuring well over 50 independent vendors (when you visit, try the dark chocolate ginger cookie at Ben's Cookies!).

Then, two graduates gave us behind-the-scenes tours of their own Oxford Colleges. Haitong Du (Fall 2016) showed us Balliol College, where he is a graduate student and instructor, and Ginya (Spring 2016) showed us Exeter College, where she earned two master's degrees. (A favorite stop: the bust of Exeter graduate J.R.R. Tolkien, of Lord of the Rings fame, in Exeter Chapel.)

As the shadows started to lengthen over the University, we boarded another train back to London, arriving at Pickwick full of energy, conversation, and sparkling reviews. Everyone ate and slept well!

Each day at SEGL we live out our mission: to provide intellectually motivated students who reflect the diversity of the United States with the best possible opportunity to shape themselves into ethical leaders who create positive change in our world. On this day, this philosophy felt particularly true.