Thu Jan 04, 2007 11:09 am
Further Education in the family Tawakalna..
My daughter has been offered a place at Magdalene (pron. "Maudlin"
College, Cambridge to study, or "read" as they like to say, Classics (Latin and Greek language and civilisation.)For the benefit of colonials, being accepted at Cambridge or Oxford is comparable to getting a place at Harvard or Yale.
I'm extremely proud, although I didn't really expect anything else of her, she's such a swot. Straight A-grades throughout her entire school career, numerous scholarship and academic awards, all that good stuff. Now all I have to do is pay for it - estimated costs for the first year being over 10,000 Tawakalni dinars, which is a significant increase in Tawakalnistan's education budget.
Interestingly, Magdalen has amongst it's' graduates such luminaries as
Samuel Pepys, 17th C diarist, recorder of the Great Plague and the Great Fire of London
Sir Michael Redgrave, actor and progenitor of the acting dynasty that includes Vanessa, and the lovely Joely Richardson
George Mallory, mountaineer who died on Everest in the 20s
Bamber Gascoigne, famous swot and creator of University Challenge
Julian Fellowes, actor and playwright
CS Lewis, author (writer of Narnia,) and theologian
Charles Stewart Parnell, 19th C MP and Irish nationalist
Charles Kingsley, author of the Water Babies
Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, 16th C Anglican martyr and writer of the Book of Common Prayer
Gavin Hastings, rugby player
Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory, one of the Battle of Britain RAF Commanders
Sir Arthur Tedder, Marshal of the RAF during the War
Sir Norman Hartnell, dress designer to the Queen
Honorary Fellows include TS Eliot, Nelson Mandela (who's he?
) Benjamin Britten and Rudyard Kipling. The College dates back to 1482 as a Benedictine foundation and is one of Cambridge's oldest Colleges, and remains one of the smallest, with only (iirc) 300 undergraduates.
She had her interview late last year and was convinced she'd messed it up, as they gave her a real grilling. Burst into tears when she got home, poor thing, but I was confident she'd done alright as traditionally both Cambridge and Oxford give the candidates they want a hard time and the duffers an easy ride, and I knew her language skills were more than adequate (she's actually very good, especially at Ancient Greek which I never really did get the hang of, although i did well with Latin and Arabic.)
College, Cambridge to study, or "read" as they like to say, Classics (Latin and Greek language and civilisation.)For the benefit of colonials, being accepted at Cambridge or Oxford is comparable to getting a place at Harvard or Yale.
I'm extremely proud, although I didn't really expect anything else of her, she's such a swot. Straight A-grades throughout her entire school career, numerous scholarship and academic awards, all that good stuff. Now all I have to do is pay for it - estimated costs for the first year being over 10,000 Tawakalni dinars, which is a significant increase in Tawakalnistan's education budget.
Interestingly, Magdalen has amongst it's' graduates such luminaries as
Samuel Pepys, 17th C diarist, recorder of the Great Plague and the Great Fire of London
Sir Michael Redgrave, actor and progenitor of the acting dynasty that includes Vanessa, and the lovely Joely Richardson
George Mallory, mountaineer who died on Everest in the 20s
Bamber Gascoigne, famous swot and creator of University Challenge
Julian Fellowes, actor and playwright
CS Lewis, author (writer of Narnia,) and theologian
Charles Stewart Parnell, 19th C MP and Irish nationalist
Charles Kingsley, author of the Water Babies
Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, 16th C Anglican martyr and writer of the Book of Common Prayer
Gavin Hastings, rugby player
Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory, one of the Battle of Britain RAF Commanders
Sir Arthur Tedder, Marshal of the RAF during the War
Sir Norman Hartnell, dress designer to the Queen
Honorary Fellows include TS Eliot, Nelson Mandela (who's he?
) Benjamin Britten and Rudyard Kipling. The College dates back to 1482 as a Benedictine foundation and is one of Cambridge's oldest Colleges, and remains one of the smallest, with only (iirc) 300 undergraduates.
She had her interview late last year and was convinced she'd messed it up, as they gave her a real grilling. Burst into tears when she got home, poor thing, but I was confident she'd done alright as traditionally both Cambridge and Oxford give the candidates they want a hard time and the duffers an easy ride, and I knew her language skills were more than adequate (she's actually very good, especially at Ancient Greek which I never really did get the hang of, although i did well with Latin and Arabic.)
(hooray, now I can tell everyone "I told you so!" - bloody optimists). Then again, the college (Girton, BTW) had a grand total of 8 places for Maths students so the odds weren't exactly in my favour. 
