Student to Student

Cambridge Summer Scholars

By Sharon Fitzpatrick

The seed of the idea to study one day at an English university was planted years ago when a teacher at my children’s high school went off each summer to pursue his Shakespearean studies abroad. I envied his freedom to leave wife and children for several weeks each summer and vowed that my time would come.

And it did. With my children all out on their own, a magazine advertisement about foreign study caught my eye. Now for two summers I have studied at Cambridge Univ. in England--first focusing on Charles Dickens, then on William Shakespeare--and have enjoyed the most satisfying summers of my life.

Cambridge Univ. consists of more than 30 colleges located in the medieval city of the same name, an hour or so north of London. The earliest college dates to 1284. Trinity College, St. John’s, and King’s College are the largest and best known, the latter for its magnificent chapel and boys’ choir. My college was founded in 1350, its library dating to 1600.

To enter the portals of the college is to step into a time warp. Automobiles give way to bicycles and punts on the River Cam, and quiet takes on a whole new dimension. The grass is like velvet and the porters are quick to intervene if it appears someone would be so gauche as to step on a single blade. The Trinity Library across the way was designed by Sir Christopher Wren. The surrounding small city abounds in tea shops, book stalls, open markets, and narrow lanes.

A typical day for a summer scholar in Cambridge begins with a big English breakfast, followed by three hours of classes divided by a coffee break. Lunch in the elegant dining hall may be followed by an afternoon class, an outing, or a free afternoon to study, to use the library, or to investigate the town. Tea is served at 3:30, evensong is at 6, and dinner is a rather formal affair served promptly at 7. The dons arrive gowned and in procession, accompanied each evening by a few invited students who join them before dinner for sherry. Grace is said in Latin, and if wine is served, there is a toast to the Queen. After dinner, there is always a lecture or film relating to the area or to our studies. On weekends there are excursions to castles, cathedrals, or other places of interest within a day’s travel.

The schedule is full and demanding. Still there is time for long walks along the Cam “backs,” and for contemplation and solitary study. Many summer scholars return again and again, and I will go back again as soon as I can.

Sharon Fitzpatrick
Southhold, NY