People to People in England By Caitlin Durham C & C Home School San Jose, California Class of 2006 This past summer I went back to school again for the first time in eight years. I was with the first People to People Student Ambassador program at Cambridge University in England for four weeks. It really was like going back to school again for me, this time in the surreal, college-like atmosphere of Cambridge University. As a home schooled student since the age of seven, I can learn just as much from watching my classmates as I can from the classes. I tend to take a different view of classes than others do, however. I would rejoice when we were handed homework, while the others would groan. We lived in the college's dormitories and many of us excitedly compared it to the experience of English boarding school (which we actually knew nothing about). When we saw the curtain draperies in the Great Hall some of us (including me) thought of Hogwarts. The classes themselves were held in a fairly large room at the very top of the building, past long steep sets of stairs. The windows were little diamond cut pieces of glass that looked out on to the grass where during breaks we watched the different conferences going on below. We had three classes: English history, politics, and literature. I especially liked the politics class, which was taught by a former Member of Parliament. He was avidly interested in anything American, especially our political system. During breaks in his class he would be surrounded by students, eagerly comparing notes. It was not all work, though. We had plenty of time to explore Cambridge, and as a group we took numerous side trips to the rival university of Oxford, to Stratford-Upon-Avon, and to the nearby town of Ely. It's a tiny, very traditional English town, where the grandeur of Ely Cathedral seems out of place. It is beautiful, however, with stunning examples of Norman and Gothic architecture and gorgeous stained glass windows. The experience taught me much and I enjoyed my time there, both in and out of the classes. I look forward to college even more, now that I have a little better idea of what to expect.