#oxfordbound

And it was a long trip. As most overseas flights are. But on this trip, I paid attention (when not power-walking through the Philly airport to catch my plane) to the massive number of people I encountered. Every complicated step of my journey, I watched people doing their jobs—from pilots to tarmac crewmen to border patrollers—and imagined the multiple shifts of dozens of workers beyond the ones I encountered. I imagined the backyards, classrooms, office buildings and favorite restaurants as we accelerated over twinkling cities—every career and story moving beneath our small-by-comparison plane. 

Thinking about all those people who dedicated their days to the airline and airport in order to make my dream come true. They do jobs no one else could do. I mean, unless robotic technology really takes off in the next few years, people will always load a 767′s luggage bay by hand because there’s no easier way to do it. The plane itself, with all its sophisticated autopiloting procedures, will never care more for the comfort of passengers like a human pilot does on rough landings. And nervous travelers will always need another human person to calm their fears in hushed tones and thoughtful favors.

We are a thoughtful species and that defines us and i’m glad it does. I’m looking ahead to a challengingly “thoughtful” semester. I’m gonna have to get real thoughtful about Ulysses and T.S. Eliot over the next 8 weeks, but I’m happy to do it. To me, it’s a chance to be humbled and also humanized. I get to be trained, highly specifically, to be thoughtful. The challenge after the papers are all turned in will be to translate academic thoughtfulness into human thoughtfulness—applied in my actual life. My home life. My friends’ lives.

I’m thrilled to start this adventure in Oxford. You can keep up with what’s happening by following this tumblr or my Instagram (or both. :D)

But i’m not gonna promise anything consistent. I definitely don’t need any more pressure on myself this semester. So...you’ll hear from me when you hear from me! 

Speaking of which (I’m sorry this is taking so long), I really love hearing from people if you’re reading this. It helps me remember where I’m from and that this semester is, yeah, a great opportunity, but not where I’m going to be forever. I super appreciate your encouragement.