School Boy: Thomas Hunt

Posted by admin on Apr 13, 2010 in Featured Articles | 0 comments

After moving from Hampshire, England to Calgary as a nine-year old, third-year History major Thomas Hunt dreamed of returning to his father’s homeland where he also held citizenship. Last semester, Hunt was fortunate enough to be one of three TWU students to attend Oxford University, in partnership with TWU’s membership with the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU).

Along with Betsy Byers and Tanjya Johnsson, Hunt attended the “Scholars’ Semester in Oxford,” a semester-long program where students study Classics, history, and theology among others at the oldest English-speaking university in the world. Boasting twenty-five British Prime Ministers, forty-seven Nobel laureates, not to mention C.S. Lewis, T.S. Eliot and J.R.R. Tolkien as alumni, the academics at Oxford were unsurprisingly rigorous.

“The program is a grind,” describes Hunt as we sit and talk in his stuffy Fraser dorm. “In 17 weeks you write 17 papers, give oral defenses, and could spend 15 hours a day in the library if you wanted.”

As a boy, attending Oxford in some capacity was always a dream for Hunt, but upon reaching the hallowed ground, reality set in. “I had this utopia in my head of what it was. After getting there, I had to shed those ideas.” Those ideas included giving up on meeting every expectation and coming to terms with his own abilities in comparisons to his own expectations.

“When you go there everyone has academic dreams, but you realize that with what you’ve got there’s only so much you can do. I could have spent 16 hours a day working, but at one point you have to say that rather than getting an A, I’ll spent 12 hours working and be content and try to enjoy myself.”

Though settling for something below an A did not come natural to Hunt, it did afford him the time to experience Oxford outside of the library. “It was great to get involved in some of the Oxford life – going to pubs, jazz clubs, smoking pipes, and getting a chance to see history all around you, rather than in just the books you read.”

While taking to English life was nice for a time, for now Hunt is back in Langley before attending the LLC in the fall.

“I think Oxford is similar to Trinity in the respect that, while I’ve learn a lot, I’ve forgotten a lot. It did, however, teach me to think rigorously, and though in one way it’s a ticket to some future things, it also taught me some lessons – like when expectations meet reality.” – J.H.