by Sarah Trahan| Fall 2023 |
Not a word I could write would possibly do justice to what I have experienced this semester, but “fab” is a worthy start. Prior to arriving in Oxford, “fab” was not in my vocabulary. My friends and I initially began saying the phrase jokingly after hearing our lovely director use it frequently, but it quickly progressed to a seemingly all-encompassing phrase, accurately representing each situation we encountered. Playing football (I call it soccer, but whatever) at our house on Woodstock Road before petting horses in Port Meadow? Cooking meals for a dozen students and jumping into the River Thames? Exploring Buckingham Palace and the National Gallery? Fab. Trains, tours, and plans being canceled left and right? An Austrian restaurant deceptively revealing it is “cash only” after we have already eaten? Getting stuck in London for hours or having to be pulled out of the mud I sunk into? Also fab (although we may use it more ironically).
Amidst these events, I have successfully navigated the London Underground, ventured around cafés and bookstores galore, explored nine colleges of the University of Oxford, and made multiple trips to Blenheim Palace. I hiked through the mountains of Ireland, around the waters of England’s Lake District and the River Dart, to the Roman fortresses along Hadrian’s Wall, and I drank water from the Loch Ness of Scotland. I have taken trains through the Alps and watched an orchestra perform in Mozart’s birthplace. I have seen the famous Vienna Christmas Markets, the Roman Colosseum, Vatican City, and so much more.
From these experiences I deduce: it is far easier to go through life when you accept that things will go wrong, and something unexpected is around every corner. I felt I already had a thorough understanding of this fact and lived flexibly accordingly, but perhaps that is just it. We are never done learning lessons, but the best thing we can do for ourselves is to view every moment as an opportunity. Now more than ever, I naturally view adversity as a learning opportunity, a challenge I would be proud to overcome, and a blessing –– a wonderful blessing because things could be going even more horribly wrong. I have learned to find joy in every situation, whether it is easy to see or more of a struggle, because ultimately, I get to have that struggle. Most importantly, I have grown in fellowship and in my relationship with Christ, and I markedly owe this to other people: the lady in the café who bought me cookies because I was crying, the widow who continues to travel to the places her late husband wanted to visit, the man who learned art after his brain surgeries and drew me at breakfast, the loving ACU Oxford staff, the volunteers at the church I worked with, and my new best friends. I have been astounded by each beautiful soul I have met this semester, internalizing more perspectives than I could have ever imagined. This life is fab.
