I make it no secret that I am a huge Tolkien fan, and I will talk about him as much as I think people can tolerate. He is, as I have mentioned, a major inspiration for my applying to Oxford—his blend of history and fantasy is very creatively compelling. Bearing this in mind, it should come as no surprise that I made it my mission to join the Tolkien society in Oxford before I was even accepted into the program. I scoured their website, not updated since the 2010s. I stalked the social media sites and was very excited to meet other Tolkien fans in a place the man lived and worked. 

I learned how to ski in the Austrian Alps. Even though I say it, and even though it happened, I'm still not quite sure that it has sunk in. And yes, I fell a lot, but all beginners do! Right?

"Dreams DO come true!" At least, that's what Cinderella says. But after I got to attend a REAL-LIFE ball, I think that I would have to agree.

I had been looking forward to this for months. I had even packed my own ball gown from home so that I wouldn't have to worry about trying to find a cost-effective gown while here in Vienna.

It was about 3 p.m. on a Thursday when I remembered what day it was. I was in my Thursday afternoon class and all of my classmates were commenting about how cold it was that day. One of my classmates remarked, "It's supposed to snow in the next 24 hours—that's how you know just how cold it is."

Snow? That's right! I had been watching the weather as the temperatures dipped lower and lower and finally, one day, snow showed up in the 10-day forecast. And my classmate's comment about the snow was an excellent reminder that the day had finally come. Well, not exactly.