Student Testimonials
From Our Alumni
The Bridgewater-at-Oxford program was one of the best things I've ever done. I learned just as much outside the classroom as I did in class with our tutor [professor], Dr. Emma Plaskitt. Now I have a better understanding of who I am as a person and how our [American] way of life is not the only way. I made so many new friends and I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. This program gets five stars in my book! — Elizabeth Mason
Bridgewater-at-Oxford was an awesome experience for me. England has always been a place I have only dreamed about coming to. Oxford is an amazing city that can only be experienced to understand its charm and aura. I met so many great people there that I will try to keep in contact with, people in the program, people outside of the program -- Irish, British and Scottish people who are really interesting and fun. Emma Plaskitt had amazing teaching ability; her class was always lively and his insights superb. Oxford was one of the best experiences of my life. The academics were challenging yet encouraging. The night life was relaxed and the sights were spectacular. It was a great taste of being independent right before we go away to college. It was also a great way to get closer to kids from Westwood I've never really known before and to meet a lot of other people. I already miss it all. — Cara Henderson
First off, I would like to say that this was the single best experience of my life. Not only because I was spending my summer in a place that I adore, I was learning so much both inside and outside of class. Dr. Plaskitt was such a perfect teacher who had an absolutely brilliant mind. She challenged us to think outside of our normal boundaries and helped us to see both the figurative and concrete parts of the text many of us would never have noticed. She also kept class upbeat and humorous with her wit and sarcasm. One of the things that truly changed me was the independence we had. Having the ability to be, for all intents and purposes, on our own and still be able to make (relatively) responsible decisions is something that I personally have never had the opportunity to do and the experience has really made me believe I am ready for the real world. It was a great transition from high school to college. Overall, I did not want to leave and wish I could be there for the rest of my life. – Allie Wittich
Oxford was truly a life changing experience. When Mrs. Brackman first told me about this opportunity, I thought it would be a lot of fun for someone who really liked reading and was a phenomenal English student; I liked to read, but I really didn’t like to write, and it just didn’t seem like my type of thing. Somehow, I was convinced to go, and it was honestly the best decision of my life. Dr. Plaskitt was extremely reasonable and accessible, as well as incredibly intelligent. She had a way of relating passages we were looking at in the novels to reality, and she made it very understandable. I learned an immeasurable amount in that month, about literature, life, and myself. – Kelsey Hession
Oxford was amazing. I didn't want to leave. I think that it was a great experience for people coming out of high school because it gives you a taste of what college life is going to be like. The course was very interesting and I enjoyed reading and discussing the literature. Oxford is a great place to go to school, and I am glad that I got to experience college life there. –Rebecca Morgan