The Pembroke-King's Summer Programme

The King's Library where I am currently.

Well, I've been living here in Cambridge for a total of 5 weeks now.  Its gone by so fast.  Some of you may be wondering how I even got here.  So, today I thought I'd tell you a bit about the program and how I got involved with it.  

I learned about the Pembroke-King's Summer Programme during the fall of my senior year of high school.  I was browsing through a booklet from BYU and came across the study abroad page and this one stood out to me.  I had always wanted to visit Europe and knew about Cambridge's rich academic history.  It sounded perfect for me and I had my sights set on it ever since.  

Every fall at BYU I went to the informational meetings and talked to past participants about their experience on the program.  I was committed to the program, but I didn't want to do it until I had figured out my major and academic plans.  I almost applied my sophomore year, but decided against it.  I just wasn't ready yet.  But, this year was my year.  I've nailed down my major (humanities) and minor (art history) and I knew what I wanted to do. 

The application became open last November and after collecting essays, transcripts and letters of recommendation, I submitted my application the week of Thanksgiving.  I expected to hear back three weeks later, around the time of finals, so I was surprised to see an e-mail from them only a week afterward.  I waited until I was by myself to open it and read it.  This was my dream for so long and I was so worried I wouldn't get in.  But, I did!  

I was so happy.  I called my family and told my friends as I ran into them on campus.  That entire week I couldn't wipe that smile off my face.  I was so excited.  Later that week, a few friends and I went out for gelato at Gloria's Little Italy to celebrate.  

We had a prep class in the winter where I got to meet the other 40 or so BYU students who were going to be on the program as well.  It was fun and got me even more excited to come.   My excitement was manifest in various forms from internet searches to candy houses.

The program is different from most BYU study abroad programs in which a collection of BYU students are living in a foreign country and being taught by BYU professors.  The Cambridge program is a direct enrollment program.  So, while the full-year cambridge students are on their summer break, King's and Pembroke colleges invite 200 or so international students to live in college and take Cambridge classes.  It's been cool meeting people from Malaysia, Eygpt and American Ivy League schools.  Its also been really nice to have so many BYU students here too.  I think it would have been hard for me otherwise.  

The Pembroke library clock tower.

The PKP program offers students the opportunity to take 3 of 45 different classes on a variety of subjects.  I chose to take a class on Gothic Architecture and a class on The Bloomsbury Group's influence on 20th Century British Culture.  They both fulfill either major or minor requirements and I've been very happy with my choices.  I'll blog about the individual classes later.  In place of a third class, I'm completing a supervision, an experience unique to Cambridge and Oxford, in which I am doing mentored research with Cambridge professor.  I chose to study the romantics connection nature in the 17th and 18th centuries in preparation for my Honors thesis (which I WILL eventually finish).   It's been great to be able to study romantic artists and see their paintings in person.  

And it all ends in less than three weeks.  Crazy, right?  I'm not quite ready for it to end yet.  So my plan is to live it up and make the most out of the time I have left in this charming city.

Stay tuned in the coming days for posts about my flat, classes, London adventures and weekend in Paris!