Karen Tai is from Texas and is funded by a Rotary Scholarship from District 5910 Texas USA to study for an MSc in Global Health Science & Epidemiology at the University of Oxford in 2021-22.
Happy November!
It is officially now past the halfway point of my first term (Michaelmas) at Oxford. Autumn is on its way out and winter is clearly on the horizon. The beautiful ivy in Lincoln College has been losing its foliage and you can see your breath in the mornings now. Even though I’ve spent the past six years in the northeast, the Texan in me is still bundling up with layers and preparing for the winter ahead.
These past few weeks, I was continuously reminded of the power of Rotary and how blessed I am to be a part of this incredible network. Unfortunately, on October 27th, there was a large fire at my accommodation at Oxford. Thankfully there were no physical injuries (everyone got out safe and sound); however, we were all displaced from our rooms and I was left with smoke-damaged belongings. I immediately called Chris and John Philip, my Rotary hosts in the UK, and they graciously picked me up from Oxford and let me stay in their home (and wash all of my clothes!) while my college figured out our accommodation situation. I am so incredibly grateful for Rotary — to know that I always have people and a home I can rely on in case of emergencies.
On the topic of Rotary – I will be giving an introductory presentation with a few other Rotary scholars on Nov. 15th at 7 PM GMT (1PM CST). This Meet the Scholars event is open to anyone who is interested in joining and the zoom link is here. Hoping to see some of you there next week!
While Thanksgiving isn’t a holiday here, I am particularly looking forward to spending the next weekends in November celebrating with some friends by cooking up some staple Thanksgiving dinner meals in our kitchen: pumpkin pie, green bean casserole, etc.