Day Twenty Four

The penultimate day on the Oxford Tradition 2011! It’s hard to believe that four weeks have almost passed.

The day unfolded with the penultimate major class taking up the morning followed by the last minor class in the afternoon. Shortly after the minor class, the Speech & Debate class held a debate in the famous Oxford Union Debate Chamber. The motion: Autocracy is Doomed in the Age of Facebook. A series of several impressive arguments gripped the spectating students and staff in the tense atmosphere of the chamber.

After dinner, the long-awaited performance of Shakespeare’s side-splitting comedy of Twelfth Night by the Drama class took place. The blood, sweat and tears produced by the long hours of rehearsal from Day One of the Oxford Tradition most certainly paid off. A truly masterful performance!

Tomorrow, we look forward to the banquet, the award ceremony and the Oxford Tradition Ball 2011, but not to the goodbyes.

Day Twenty-Four

Another day on Oxtrad dawned hot and sunny - fingers crossed this weather lasts till the end of the programme now!  Once again, Major and Minor classes were held outside, with picnics and punting galore to celebrate the final week. 

Celebrations went on this afternoon for the Art, Photography and Architecture classes in the form of the Oxford Tradition Exhibition.  The pieces on show were truly superb, resulting from a combination of hard work and true flair which manifested over the past month into a really brilliant display.

This evening, celebrations went on for another class in the form of the Creative Writing Showcase.  A brilliant mixture of poetry, non-fiction writing and storytelling kept the audience's rapt attention, with everyone startled by the intrigue and emotion filling many of the pieces.

As I write, the Journalism class are preparing to hand out Oxtrad's premiere magazine - the Monitor - a well researched and thoroughly entertaining read.  Don't forget to read your child's copy when they get home!

Guest Post: Third Student Op-Ed

The Oxford Tradition blog is pleased to feature the third Guest Op-Ed from our student journalist, Tatiana Esposito. 

OxTrad Talent Show:

Saturday night’s Oxford Tradition event featured the much-anticipated talent show, which had both students and staff showing off their musical, comedic, and literary capabilities.

Aislyn Flynn sang a rendition of Arms of an Angel beautifully and so full of vibrato that it could have been a professional performance. A majority of acts were musical, including the group that did a perfectly harmonized version of Hallelujah and a solo performance of Taylor the Latte Boy that mixed musical theater talent with humor. There were also a lot of guitars, which appeared in at least five songs both as solo acts with the musician singing along, or in a band setting.

However, the largely musical show was also peppered with acts of other kinds: juggling, a skit, and an incredible and relatable spoken word piece by Pate Sanders about having nostalgia for the innocence and ignorance of childhood, which required enviable skill and bravery. The wide-ranging talent that students at the program possess was beyond impressive, and the polish and professionalism with which the performances were carried out is a testament to them and their passions.

The entire night was a great opportunity forprogram participants to share their talents with new friends and show a side of themselves that very pleasantly surprised their major and minor colleagues—and their teachers. OxTrad 2011 definitely has got talent!

Day Twenty-Three

Students were treated to another round of fudge taste-talks today, after the last week's proved to be so popular! So, how is fudge made? There are a couple of stories floating around claiming to have the answer to this very important question. One suggests that an apprentice caramel maker was left stirring the pot while his boss was serving customers – but he didn’t know what he was doing, and the caramel became grainy and was ruined. However the customers loved it, and named it Fudge after the young apprentice. After today's session, OxTrad students are well-versed in fudge making and greatly enjoyed tasting the varieties made - including Oreo, Ginger, Chocolate and Maple.

Another jam session was also held, with a smaller number of students this time around, but with a fantastic sound produced by all! One of the definite highlights of the Talent Show last weekend was the blues showcase featuring AD Zahid, PA Michael, and student Scott. All three were leading this jam, and giving tips to students who attended.

This week is, of course, the final week of classes for the students. As such, many classes are showing off what they have worked so hard to learn over the past month. This has kicked off with the Law & Society class today presenting their case for judgement in a moot court… A moot court is a simulated court proceedings that includes participating in oral presentations to a judge and jury - and the jury in this case is the International Law class. Classmates and friends who came to support the budding lawyers were dazzled by some of the points made in oral arguments, and the students proved that a month is more than enough time to learn some hugely valuable lessons.

The night ended with an outing to an Oscar Wilde play, The Importance of Being Earnest. Oscar Wilde’s most celebrated play revolves around protagonists who maintain fictitious personalities in order to escape their social obligations. This was shown in the beautiful surrounds of Wadham College, which is particularly apt given that the play itself is set in a garden! Unfortunately, the heavy downpour in the early evening and fairly constant drizzle through the rest of the night discouraged the majority of students from attending, but for those who braved the English summer weather, the play was enthusiastically received.

Day Twenty-Two

Another fantastic day on the Oxford Tradition.  Possibly the hottest day so far saw many Major and Minor classes held on the Quads of both Colleges – a brilliant start to the final week. 

After Minor classes, students were treated to a fantastic display of British cookery by professional chef Carri Forbes, learning how to make traditional British treats such as oatmeal and Eton Mess, and of course tasting a lot along the way!  Recipes were given out at the end of the workshop – so be sure to ask for a re-run back at home!

This evening, the founder of the Programme, Dr. Jim Basker,  gave a fantastic talk entitled ‘Samuel Johnson – Who is He and Why Do We Care?’.  Samuel Johnson - an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer – was a truly fascinating man, as well as a member of one of the Oxtrad colleges – Pembroke.  This talk was a great insight into his life and contribution to English literature; a brilliant end to a brilliant day!

Day Twenty-One

A day of incredible weather greeted the students on Sunday. It was an early start for some students, who played 3-a-side half-court basketball games with one of the Programme Deans, Cole. This was a very successful repeat of last week's basketball game, with the students very much enjoying the weather and the physical activity.

Mid-morning saw a number of activities. One of these was a tour of Oxford's famous Bodleian Library (link here): students were able to absorb the atmosphere of this venerable library were Oxford students study every day, and were also able to see where various Harry Potter segments were filmed! (One of the Bodleian rooms is the Hogwarts Infirmary).

One of our faculty led a watercolour painting session in the Christchurch Meadows; students were instructed in how to mix paint from tubes, the best way to hold a brush, various exercises to improve brush control, and were then able to take inspiration from the Meadows and nearby Isis River for their artworks.

This was the final week for a series of very successful and popular Coffee Concerts. Held in the historical Holywell Music Rooms, students were this week treated to Viv Mclean on piano and Kate Gould on cello, playing Beethoven Cello Sonata in A op. 69 and Shostakovich Cello Sonata in D. Kate Gould is a member of Olivier and London Bridge Ensembles, and Guest princiapal cello with both the Scottish and English Chamber Orchestras, and is a member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. What a lovely way to start a Sunday morning!

At lunchtime, the programme founder, Dr. Jim Basker, gave a talk on "How Poetry Helped to End Slavery" - a subject upon which Dr. Basker is a world authority. All students who attended this fascinating talk left with a deeper understanding of the impact of American slave poetry both during that period and its reaches into the current period.

In the evening, we held a movie double-billing. After a request from the students, we started with a 'Chick Flick' - The Notebook resulted in many weepy eyes and bins full of tissue paper! The second movie was hosted by the Paris Connection faculty contacts, Liliana Worth and Enricco Cocchi. Amelie is an Oscar-nominated film about an ingénue in Paris who discovers love by helping the people around her - and the beautiful story and picturesque Paris neighbourhoods inspired not only the students going on to the Paris Connection.

OxTrad Photo!

Earlier in the program, a photo of all of the students attending OxTrad was taken by the Photography faculty member, James Howe.

Students are able to order prints of this photo by Wednesday, and it will make a great memory of the summer month!!

OxTrad 2011!