I think that part of the nature of living somewhere is that eventually it just becomes a part of the scenery, things happen but you forget to to take in the aspects of life that are truly amazing when they become mundane. When I first set out for the study abroad, I made myself a promise to not lose the wonder while I was here. Something that has struck me in my time in Oxford has been the power that setting has over us. When you think about the movies and books that have the greatest impact in storytelling, I think that the majority also have a setting that is as much a living piece as any of the characters. Without these elements, the stories lose some of their luster and feel less alive. To have the opportunity to live in Europe has shown me much of the same effect within my own writing. Being surrounded by so much history is an amazing gift and I have taken so much pleasure in being able to explore these places with my friends. The history we live in may not be something that impacts us immediately, but I know that my time here that I’ve spent with these people will live on in a special place in my heart that will reflect in my writing for the rest of my life. While I can’t see the shapes that these experiences will form in my writing in the future, I feel enormously blessed to be able to see the experiences we have been having together form in the pictures we take the time to take.
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Isaac Morley
Shakespeare in Oxford! 