As the fourth quarter is in full swing, many seniors feel stressed as they are figuring out where their next four years will take place. For senior Amira Dvorak, this decision was easy to make. Dvorak will be studying at Durham University, in Durham England about two hours north of London.
“In the spring of my sophomore year, I had an unknown fit of some sort. The initial call was that I was going to apply to Oxford, but it turns out, you have to do all this stuff to apply there. I flew down to Houston on October 19 to take the admissions test,” Dvorak said. “Then I could apply to other schools, so I literally googled schools in the UK and put down the first four. I didn’t think I would get into any of them, because I had absolutely no concept of the British college system.”
Over spring break, Dvorak visited many colleges in Europe but after visiting Durham she knew it was the perfect place for her.
“I am in love with the Cathedral, it’s literally a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It’s absolutely beautiful and a marvel of architecture. It’s used for a lot of movies; you’ll see it in Avengers: Endgame, and Harry Potter,” she said.”I also love the collegiate system, which means the university is made up of a bunch of little colleges. So you are allocated a college and you will be attending it with pretty much a miniature version of the university itself.”
Dvorak was drawn in by the many different majors and the three-year program, along with the cost.
“Durham has three years and you can change your major if needed. It’s a lot cheaper because Oxford was 40,000 a year which isn’t that expensive, considering the overseas status and all.” Dvorak said.
Although Dvorak had worries about being so far away from everything she’s known, after visiting Europe she has found a new place to call home.
“I was really scared that I wasn’t going to be able to figure out public transit [and that] everyone would hate me because I’m American and that I was going to have to eat beans on toast, and you know what, I didn’t have to do any of that,” Dvorak said. “Everyone was really nice, especially in the bigger cities like London and Edinburgh. It’s [went] very smooth and felt natural to me.”
