MrsHughey.com

I'm not trying to kiss up, it just sounds that way!

You guys are not going to believe this! One of the MCR members has a blog and has written the absolute nicest entry about - gasp! - US! Yeah, as in me and Mr. H! WOW!

This is probably going to seem obsequious (thank you Kim and Andrew for being my thesauri) since I have just read PJ's entry, but I would like to take an entry and explain about some of the absolutely amazing people that we are meeting here.

It seems appropriate to start with PJ Thum. He wouldn't tell you about it on his own, but this guy is pretty much a superhero. He is from Singapore and went to the Olympics in Atlanta at age 16 and competed in swimming. Cool, huh? But that's not all! Not only is he literally a world-class athlete, the man is brilliant. He went to Harvard for his undergraduate studies (also swam there), then went on to become a Rhodes Scholar here at Oxford. He has SO much enthusiasm for whatever he is doing it's incredible. He's like the only person at Oxford who is always wearing Harvard or Oxford gear and does so unapologetically. I love it! Anyway, he has done all of this in his rather young life and yet he would never, ever seem arrogant or act as though he was any better than anybody else. He even seems a little embarassed if you bring up his many accomplishments.

Then there's Mindy, another Rhodes scholar. It just amazes me that we get to hang out with these people who are Rhodes freakin' scholars! And they talk to me like I am an intellegent person! Wow! Mindy is this absolutely charming woman who happens to be a Rhodes scholar. LOL.

There's Rich, the MCR arts director, who went to some amazing music conservatory in Conneticut and studied composition. He's here on some big scholarship. We saw Bowling for Columbine with him last week. A really nice guy.

Sally is from New Zealand (NOT Australia - don't mess it up or she will be so mad at you!). She is absolutely brilliant and you do NOT want to be on the opposite side of a debate from this woman. She is, like everyone who studies at Oxford, brilliant, but she's also tough as hell. She is already a qualified lawyer from what I gather, but is now studying international relations alongside Chelsea Clinton (who is a personal friend of hers and several other friends of ours - I'm so jealous!). Anyway, Sally is never afraid to speak her mind and I would not be the least bit surprised if she wound up as leader of any number of nations in the future. She's brilliant.

And then there are the many, many Brits I have the pleasure of knowing. Jon Baines is not only the funiest MCR member, but he's also getting an advanced degree in modern literature. His girlfriend works for some big international government office (the foriegn service office maybe?) in London. There's an Irish guy here studying viruses, tons of geographers and geologists, and just generally brilliant but surprisingly down to earth and cool people. I fully expect to see many of them go on to cure terrible things, invent wonderful things, or just generally make the world a better place.

I feel so fortunate to be able to know and talk with these people - and those are just a few of many. We have wonderful conversations and what sometimes surprises me is the way they will speak to me with such awe that I'm writing a book - like it's something they could never do. I am just really thankful to have the opportunity to get to know these great minds of my generation. I mean, it's not everybody who can do that.

So I am in the midst of greatness. In addition, I regularly reflect on the amazing people who have been a part of Oxford before me. In addition to the people I look up to like Shelley, Tolkien, Auden, Jon Donne, and Oscar Wilde, there have been so many great scientists, politicians, philosophers, architects, and artists who have taught or studied in Oxford. It's hard not to be inspired as you work here.

Posted by Erin at December 1, 2002 10:13 PM