Rupert Yorke - College of Social Sciences and International Studies

Yorke, Rupertfirst glance. However, the messianic capabilities of Student Finance England will hopefully intervenefrom above and I won’t be graced with multiple bank statements cheerfully caked in too much redink.Much is made of the American educational system and its well-earned and virtuoso reputation isnaturally accompanied by a more stringent daily approach to learning. My meagre eight hours ofcontact time per week looks set to be more than doubled and it is with great eagerness that I lookforward to the high levels of encouraged and expected participation inherent in the American ‘class’system 2 . This will be of huge relief given the slight monotony I have often found in Exeter’slecture/tutorial approach, and the occasional lack of scope for individual contribution. Havingspoken to current William and Mary students at Exeter, they laud their home institution’s propensityfor student-professor interaction and the extent of familiarity which one can build up with theirinstructors. I intend to cultivate this avenue to the highest possible degree. I have been reliablyinformed also that the Americans nurture an emphatically different style of writing; sacrificingambiguity and subjective awareness for a more definitive, one-dimensional and conclusiveapproach. Whilst hoping to add this new technique to my essay-writing arsenal, I also intend toundertake considerable research for a potentially titillating dissertation topic on American politicalphilosophy when back in Exeter. By combining the two, I am confident I will return to Exeter heavilyarmoured and more than ready to launch the final assault on my degree.Educational adaptation aside, there is also the need to culturally assimilate myself with the variousidiosyncrasies and colloquialisms of Virginians. Although I have been to the country several timesbefore, social etiquette will refreshingly take on a rather different form from some of the alcoholfuelledrelationships I seem to have fostered at Exeter and I am sure my cultural awareness andappreciation will improve to no end. Being situated just one hundred and fifty miles south ofWashington D.C. is mouth-watering for a student of politics or ‘government’ and I will thus frequentmyself on the excursions north to the political capital of the liberty-loving Western world. Indeed, Ihope to meet young people at William and Mary who share my drive and zeal for politicalappreciation and I will doubtless consider seriously the U.S.A. in a career-minded light upongraduation.The possibility for personal development is therefore what I crave most and feel somewhatincapable of cultivating at Exeter at the present time. Although I will miss certain aspects of homelife, I am not apprehensive in the slightest and am looking forward with excitement and optimism tothe coming year. The scale of opportunity and potential on offer, the chance to really flourish andundergo a unique experience amidst an entirely different, liberal culture is simply too good anopening to turn down – I am merely counting down the days now.2 I refer to their use of the term ‘class’ in the educational sense - not the social hierarchical connotation!