Winchester College 2018

We departed Charlotte International Airport a few days after graduation. After an eight hour flight, we finally landed at Heathrow airport in London. Upon our landing in England, we were picked up by a driver and were taken to Winchester College, which was an hours drive from London. Once the both of us arrived in Winchester, we were dropped of at our respective boarding houses, Marshall at Cook's located centrally in town, and Tillman at the historic college located on Winchester's campus.
The city itself was amazing. Winchester itself is a relatively small town that was once the capital of England in the 9th century. The high street, the scaled down equivalent to Nashville's Broadway, was filled with local shops, monuments, and a statue of King Alfred the Great at the end of the street.

For exeat, a long weekend giving the students an opportunity to go home, we were fortunate enough to be invited home with our different families for the weekend.
Marshall stayed with the Czartoryski-Bruseth family, who had a home in Sherfield English close to Winchester and a home in South London. He spent the first day of exeat at the families home in the country where he was able to explore the area and play air-soft and cricket with his host Stan. After a day at their home in the countryside, he went with them to their home in London. In London, his host showed him around the city, stopping by parliament, the royal palace, and China Town.



                               
                                                 At Stan's Home in the Country                               

Tillman went to stay in London with his friend Tele Agusto from College. Tele had an apartment in Paddington, and he took Tillman around the city to the iconic sites. They also watched a lot of the World Cup and visited Damola, another boy from their boarding house.

We both took English, Philosophy/Theology, and Div. Div is a class in which the don (teacher) in charge could choose the subject material. In Tillman's Div, they talked about the use of narcotics to fuel the war in the Middle East. In Marshall's Div, they talked about fragmentation in certain literature such as Shakespeare's "King Lear". Marshall also took French, and Tillman took Art History.

The day started at 8:45 each day, and each class was only 35 minutes. The schedule was different everyday, and the classes were often in blocks of two such as double English. Free periods were called bookies, and during them the students could study in the library or their dorms. Lunch was at 1:00 everyday, and teachers would often eat with the students. Lunch was served in each boarding house. On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, the day ended after lunch, but on other days besides Sunday, there were afternoon lessons until 4:00. After school got out, the students could go to sports. Tillman played with the cricket team, and Marshall rowed with the school team and tried cricket. After sports, tea was at six, which was dinner.

Near the end of every school year, there is a school wide event called "Winchester Match". It is a showcasing of the school, its clubs, and sports teams. Parents of the students are allowed to come and see their children participate in their sports whether it be cricket, football (soccer), or rowing. The boarding houses are also open for parents to visit. The lunch at the houses was lavish. There were large buffets with a variety of selections for the students and parents.

We would like to thank the Warner family, Mrs. Scholer, and Mr. Gioia for giving us this amazing opportunity to go on exchange at Winchester College.