Eton College Exchange 2018

Introduction

My interest in the Eton exchange began when my good friend, Joe Spear, was abroad on his exchange at Eton. He spoke very highly of it, and the differences between MBA and Eton, that he mentioned, were very intriguing to me. Joe was a great help to me when writing my application for the Eton exchange, as he gave me in-depth details about his experiences at Eton College, which were much more valuable than anything I could possibly find on the school's website itself; however, the information on Eton's website was not lack-luster. Founded in 1440 by King Henry VI, Eton College has housed many famous people, such as Winston Churchill, Prince Harry and William, Bear Grylls, George Orwell, and former PM, David Cameron.

The yard in front of my math building

School Yard

The chapel (right building)

Academics

While at Eton College, I took German, Economics, Biology, and Math. Both the schedule and the way the classes were taught were a bit unusual to me. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, school ended from 5:10 to 6:00pm, but on Tuesdays and Thursdays, school ended at lunch, which was at 1:15pm. Eton uses a rotating schedule, which was much better than I thought it would be. German class took a little time to get used to, as it was much different than what we do at MBA. German was broken up into two separate classes, Culture/Film and Grammar/Vocab. Both of these classes were taught largely in English, which came as a surprise to me, as I am used to only being allowed to speak in German at MBA. The way math was taught was also very different from how it is taught at MBA. The reason the class was just called math was because it covered a multitude of subjects. I learned Calculus, Statistics, and some Algebra. Even though the classes were a bit different, I had a great deal of fun in them. The teachers were fantastic people and very passionate in the way they taught.

Extra-Curriculars

Since Eton allowed us so much time during our day, there were a lot of different activities that we could do. The boys in the Manor house invited me to play Field game with them. Field game is a game that was created at Eton and is like a mixture between soccer and rugby. Everyone told me that there were too many rules to Field game, and the seniors told me that they didn't even fully understand the game after having been at Eton for 5 years. Although the rules were a little complicated, Field game was a lot of fun, because we looked like a bunch of fools chasing a ball. Another fantastic activity I did was Beagling. Beagling is an activity in which you set a trail using a cloth, soaked in fox urine and attached to a string. There are many students whose jobs were to keep the pack of beagles from straying off from the trail. Another exchange student from Boston and I just watched everyone. After a couple of hours, we went back to the bus we took to go beagling, had a snack, and headed back to school. Just like MBA, Eton had a great deal of speakers come. I was fortunate to listen to some fantastic speakers. I heard a Senior Michelin Star Inspector speak about the whole process behind Michelin Stars and their restaurant list. David Cameron came and spoke as well, which was an amazing experience. He spoke about Brexit, immigration in the UK, and his experience as the prime minister.

The pack of beagles that were lead on the trail

My Travels

During my school break, my father flew out to London, and we visited London and Edinburgh. At first, we visited museums and other touristy places in London, but we later went to an extremely anticipated soccer match. My dad was able to get us tickets to see the Arsenal vs. Tottenham game at Wembley stadium, which was awesome to say the least. The stadium was packed, and the fans were chanting an array of cheers they had specifically for both teams. The energy in the stadium made the match much more enjoyable. After we finished our time in London, we took a train to Edinburgh to explore a bit of our family history, as my grandmother is from a small town just outside of the city. We went to see the Six Nations game of France vs. Scotland the next day. I got the full Scottish experience there: below 0 degree weather and an environment full of rowdy, drunken Scots. The next day we went to the town where my grandmother lived, Tyninghame.

The Arsenal vs. Tottenham game

Tyninghame house, where my grandmother lived

View of the coast at Tyninghame

My Takeaway

My exchange to Eton was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Getting to learn about about life in England and at one of the greatest schools in the UK was an amazing experience, as I am thinking about going to the UK to pursue my career. I cannot thank the Warner family, Mr. Gioia, Dr. Boyd, and Mrs. Scholer enough for giving me this opportunity. I greatly appreciate their generosity and help in setting up my exchange.