Oxford Trip Key Learning Experience

Oxford was a very eventful day, and I ended up visiting many different areas of Oxford, and I did feel that not only did I find lots of interesting things in the museums for inspiration, I feel that this trip has also helped me to grow as a person in terms of independence, and strength of character, amongst many different other things.

I feel this way because initially I was a bit reluctant to go, but I feel that I handled myself very well, and was able to freely explore the museums and the town itself very well, and it also made me feel like I could accomplish almost anything!

So I'd say it did make me realise a bit more how much I have overcome since the dark days of High School, where I was struggling to cope with almost anything (there were times when I felt I couldn't even leave my own house on my own, let alone go on a trip for a full day!) and I was pleased with the fact I could freely walk around an unfamiliar city on my own and still find my way back to the coach on time!

It especially meant a lot getting praise from my parents, who said that they were both very proud of me for going, and it meant a lot that they did reward me for what I had achieved today.

I feel that from today I could try visiting even more unfamiliar places, making me feel brave and adventurous, and it is fun doing that sort of thing, but I will say that it would have been even better if it wasn't raining all day!

Oxford Trip Topic 5: Returning Home

Because it was a trip, it was a much longer day than usual, so we arrived back in Stafford at around 6pm on the 14th May 2013, where I met with my dad who took me back home.

I felt quite tired, but I felt that it was a good day out, even if I felt it did distract me from my other projects. Mum made me a lovely dinner and both mum and dad said how proud they were of me, as originally I wasn't sure whether I really wanted to go, but I thought it was a place I have never been to before, which made me feel quite adventurous and brave, and even though in the end I didn't, I thought it could have been an opportunity to get to know some of the Foundation Degree students a lot better. So I did feel quite pleased with myself, and it did make me feel like I could cope in many uncomfortable situations.

As a reward, my mum wrote a lovely message saying well done for today and how much she missed me, and game me a present in the form of a Wreck it Ralph magazine, which was a lovely treat after a challenging day, and I did really enjoy reading this too!

Oxford Trip Study Tasks.

In this task we had to find 2 items and create a study of them, such as drawing them, which is what I have done. I would have liked to have had a little bit more time to this task, but due to other outstanding projects, I have only spent around 5-10 minutes on each study.

Study 1: Discus Athlete, Ashmolean Museum

Study 2:  Tyrannosaurus Rex, Natural History Museum

Oxford Trip Topic 4: the Town itself

Although this was a college trip where the aim of it was to look at museums and galleries, I did give myself the chance to explore some of the other parts of Oxford, including its shops and restaurants. I would say that it does have a nice high street, with many different shops and eating places to look in and buy things from. I was pleased that their HMV was still open!

I also looked around many other shops, and was pleased that they had a Shopping Centre tucked away in one of the corners of one of the streets, which contained Primark and Game, so had a good look in there, and thought it was a really nice place to come shopping again one day!

Also, even though I had already had my lunch that day, I did feel quite peckish, so just before I boarded the coach I bought myself a Chicken Burger from KFC to eat on the coach too!

Oxford Trip Topic 3: the Natural History Museum

Even though we only saw the inside of this museum because we had to walk through it to get in and out of the Pitts museum where we intended to go, I did find the things on display that we did see, whether they were finished and ready or they weren't, very interesting. There was a very detailed display on the evolution of man, and many displays about monkeys, which I found to be impressive, as well as a life sized DNA helix strand.

However, some of my favourite displays I saw were when we were leaving. There was a huge Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton, which I wasn't sure was ready for display yet, which looked really cool, and I could easily see me creating something in the future that is to do with dinosaurs (there are also many books about dinosaurs too, so researching them wouldn't be too bad either,) and there were also some interesting crystals and rocks too, which unlike other displays we could actually touch them!

One other artefact I found interesting was something about a bacteria cell, and the insides of them as well

So even though we were only in there for a short time, I did enjoy the Natural History Museum in Oxford.

Oxford Trip Topic 2: the Pitts Museum

After looking around the Ashmolean for around three hours, and I still felt that there was more to see, myself, some of the other students and lecturers moved on to other museums. The next museum we visited was the Pitts museum, which we had to walk through some unfinished, but impressive displays in the Oxford Natural History museum to get there.

To be honest I did find the Pitts museum to be quite cluttered and dark, and there were also lots of excitable schoolchildren running around the museum, there were still a few interesting things on display, and the layout of the museum did remind me of a potential game level, which did feel quite exciting. There was a large totem pole towards the back of the museum, spanning all three floors of the museum, which I particularly liked, due to it standing out and its grand scale, but there were also other things that reminded me of my childhood displayed there, such as ice skates, both old and new.

I did feel that there were a lot of textiles and fashion based items on display, of both old fashion and some things I could see people wearing today at the Pitts museum, so I feel that it would be a much more inspiring place for people particularly interested in fashion. There were also a very wide variety of items on display, which I did appreciate.

I wouldn't say the museum was as good as the Ashmolean, or any museum or gallery I visited in Paris for that matter, and I wouldn't say I could spend more than an hour or two there without getting a bit bored, but I still appreciate looking around these places, and the things they have on display, because they are still ver creative and historic.

Oxford Trip Topic 1:the Ashmolean Museum

The first place we visited as a college after departing from the coach was the Ashmolean Museum, which was located just across the street from where we were parked. So after we were given out many tasks, and a map to prevent us from getting lost, we were left to look around the museum by ourselves, considering we were all over 18 and could look after ourselves.

I went around by myself, which I found quite beneficial, because I could then look at the items on display that were most interesting and relevant to me. At first, even though I wasn't initially looking forward to the trip, being on the coach allowed me to rest a bit from my other outstanding projects, and found myself feeling quite fresh and excitable visiting a new place, even though the weather was terrible throughout the whole day.

So anyway, I felt that the Ashmolean museum was a brilliant museum, it was very informative about each artefact and had a very wide variety of artefacts on display spanning 5 floors! Most of the artefacts were historic, but there were a few modern items on display, and I felt that the inside of the museum itself had a very modern feel to it. I think my favourite things on display there were the musical instruments, as well as all the human sculptures and the Ancient Greek display, which reminded me a lot of the Disney Classic Hercules. Even though this area would be quite easy to miss, I was also particularly impressed by the artwork printed on the Japanese Scrolls at the museum, and made me feel like people all over the world should paint or print their artwork on scrolls, as I felt that was a very good and inventive medium to use.

I felt I could have stayed there for longer, but because I was in an unfamiliar place, and didn't want to separate from the main group, I kept to the schedule, and moved on with the other lecturers to the other museums.