Regular Decisions Released Tonight!

Regular decisions will be released tonight via your OPUS account at 7:00 PM EST. Log on to your opus account to receive you decision letter! You will also be getting a formal letter in the mail. Good luck!

Last week Dooley made his grand appearance at the Atlanta campus during Dooley's week! This year's theme, Cirque Doo'Ley included acrobats at Wonderful Wednesday, a performance by One Republic and Dooley's Ball. Oxford's spirit is also going strong with Wale performing live on Oxford's campus next week! Spirit week is also coming up this month with the usual fun competitions, culminating with Spring Fling! Spring is warming up on Oxford's campus so come visit to see all the fun activities going on! Accepted students can visit us for one of our Spring for Oxford days in April- register online here.

My Spring

As I sat down to write, I realized how close my time at Oxford is drawing to a close! I am getting ready to register for classes at the Atlanta campus and already have my housing assignment. This home stretch is bittersweet. I am excited to declare my major and dig into deeper, more exciting courses. I look forward to new adventures on a new campus in the big city. However, I will dearly miss the people and place that is Oxford College, so I am making the most of my Oxford memories and having tons of fun this last semester! Over my spring break, I had an amazing experience on the Oxford College Alternative Spring Break trip. A group of 39 students and 3 staff members traveled to South Georgia to build a Habitat House and volunteer in Camden County, GA. It was an amazing bonding experience as well as a great week of service. We visited Savannah and spent some time downtown on River Street. We played games and went hiking. We went to the beach on Tybee Island, watching the sunset, gazing at stars, and then watching the sunrise. It was a happy, fun, relaxing, absolutely amazing week - probably my favorite week of the school year!

Spring is finally here!

Oxford's quad is blooming as spring has finally arrived. The campus is quiet as our students are on Spring Break! A large group of students are traveling with Volunteer Oxford to Savannah Georgia for Oxford's annual Alternative Spring Break trip, and Dr. McQuaide's Sociology in Developing Society course left for Ecuador for this eye-opening study abroad interim course. Last week Oxford's Chinese Student Association held the first annual Chinese Celebration Week to celebrate the Chinese New Year and educate the student body about Chinese Culture. Students wore their traditional Asian costumes, ate Chinese food served in Lil's, produced a Chinese New Year Gala, and had the traditional lion dance in the middle of Lil's! Scholars Finalists, thank you all so much for a wonderful weekend- I hope you were able to gain an insight into all the great opportunities we offer at Oxford and the great community we have here. Your official letters will be mailed out soon.

Regular Decision Deadline coming up!

Don't miss out on the next opportunity to apply to Oxford! Our Regular Decision deadline is January 15th. Be sure to check out our application checklist online and your OPUS account to see the status of your application. Haven't applied yet? Learn more about Oxford and apply now!

Fall Semester - Where did it Go!?

I have finished the first semester of my sophomore year. It's an exciting accomplishment, but it has gone by so quickly! This is my first post since the summer due to my VERY busy schedule this past semester. There has not been a dull moment in the past three months. The sophomores at Oxford are the "upperclassmen," so I have been busy as club president, research student, SI, and studying in general. The studying has to happen sometime....

I have successfully completed physics - an accomplishment I am relieved of. This class was the most challenging class I have ever had, but I am so thankful that I survived! I feel as though I can take on anything now - graduate school, organic chemistry, whatever; I have finished Dr. S physics class, and nothing can stop me now!

I've had a lot of fun this semester, too. Attached is a picture of Fall Formal. It was held at the Fox Theater in Atlanta - one of my favorite places. I used to get dressed up, go to a nice dinner, and then see a play for my birthday when I was a little younger. I love the theater. I recently saw the Nutcracker a few weekends ago, which was magical!

For Fall Break I had a lot of fun volunteering at a national park. I met some awesome new friends, including some new freshmen :) I'm super psyched about Spring Break next semester - I'm on the planning committee for Alternative Spring Break. We are going to south Georgia to build a Habitat House; last year's ASB was the BEST week of freshman year!!!

I'm about to leave Oxford for home - winter break!

Au revoir,

Susanna

'Twas the night of decisions...

Greetings from Oxford! As the temperatures drop and snow flurries float through the air, the Oxford campus has become quieter as students are studying for finals. The admissions office is bubbling with activity and excitement as decisions are being released tonight! Decisions will be available on your OPUS account by 7:00 PM EST this evening.

Be sure to visit our Accepted Student website to see what's next for accepted students and check out the Accepted Students handbook. Also don't forget to join our Oxford College Class of 2015 group on Facebook where you can interact with current students! Be sure to reserve your spot in the entering class by submitting your deposit which you can do via your OPUS account tomorrow. We're excited about our new class of Emory Eagles!

Back in the office and now application time!

Our advisors are happy to be back in the office after Travel Season 2010. Did you meet one of our friendly admissions advisors at your high school or college fair in your area? Post a comment below if you did!

The Early Action deadline has passed, but don't worry- you can still apply for our Oxford Scholars Deadline (November 15th) and for Regular Decision (January 15th). Make sure you check our to-do list online to ensure you have sent in all the right documents to make a complete file.

Campus has been teeming with activity while we have been traveling. Oxford Students shared their new home with their families over family weekend, our Fall Play "The Misanthrope" was a big hit, the Dalai Lama came to visit Emory's campus, Oxford sponsored a bike ride fundraiser for Leadership Oxford, students celebrated Halloween with Halloweek, and so much more! Check out some pictures from recent events on campus!

Emory Hits the Road!

Travel Season has officially begun and our Admissions Advisors from Oxford and Emory College will be coming to a college fair or school near you soon! Meet the Admissions Advisor for your area and come armed with plenty of questions since they are your best resource during the application process. Make sure to fill out those information cards to let us know that we met with you at your high school or an area college fair. Check out our map online to see when we are coming to your area! We look forward to meeting you!

Welcome Oxford Class of 2012!!

Last Wednesday, campus came alive again when 550 first year students moved to Oxford to begin the exciting new chapter of their lives as Emory students. Our PALS (orientation leaders) were on site with their cheering voices and enthusiasm to welcome the incoming class. First year students began orientation the next day and parted ways with their parents after the annual Coke toast on the quad. Spirits were high as the new freshman class was excited to be a part of Oxford as the largest and most diverse class in Oxford's history.



On Saturday, incoming freshmen participated in the 2nd Annual Oxford Olympics. This new tradition, started by Oxford alum Rhiannon Hubert, has students competing with their residence hall. This event included a tricycle race, Dooley-Zebra-Eagle rock paper scissors, king of the mountain, spirit competition, and relay race. Freshmen were lead by their PALS and RA's through the activities organized by the Office of Leadership and Student Development. Each team had a banner and cheer which could be heard all around campus during the competition.

Poster Tomorrow!

Hi all!

Well, it's winding down here at the STAR program at MCG. Tomorrow, we all have to present our projects during the poster session. I have my poster printed and my speech ready. So now I'm just practicing.

I cannot believe that I am done with the STAR program! Nine weeks have gone by so quickly! I also cannot believe the amount of research I was able to do while I was here!

It has definitely been a good experience. The research has been helpful for me in deciding what I would like to pursue as a career (I'm leaning towards medicine right now) and I have met some really awesome people.

My mentor has been fantastic and has made sure that I am ready for tomorrow. We have been working on my poster and what I was going to say for the past two weeks! Yesterday, he also sat me down and went over questions that I would be asked. I feel so much less stressed now. Whew!

Other than prepping for tomorrow, I also have been packing up my things and getting ready to go. I cannot believe that I shall be moving out on Friday! Then off to Florida to be with my parents for the rest of the summer. I'm excited to be able to relax before I head back to school in the fall and start at the Atlanta campus.

Well, back to work. Gotta practice for tomorrow!

Peace and love,
Lizzy

Oxford is Heating Up for Incoming Students!

Happy summer everyone! Oxford's campus is gorgeous right now with the sun shining through the trees and lighting up our quad. There are also some exciting changes taking place on campus and I can't wait til later this summer when I'll get to see the new and returning students' surprised faces. The library, Branham and East, and the JRC are all being renovated as I type. This includes new furniture, carpeting, new paint, and updated features. These new updates will really add to the campus and I can't wait to see the final products in each building. We are also having a lot more visitors on campus since life for rising seniors isn't busy just yet. So I thought I would share some tips for when you visit a college campus:
- Meet your admissions advisor! This is the person assigned to your particular state or school. They will be your contact throughout the application process so make sure you meet them.
- Come prepared with questions
- Eat a meal on campus
- Bring a camera- this will help you remember what each campus looks like
- Talk to as many students and faculty on campus- they are the ones that know the place best

Happy visiting!

From the Land of 10,000 Lakes

I have arrived and have been enjoying the Twin Cities for two weeks now. Minneapolis is a really cool city, and I am having a wonderful time. There are cute little restaurants and old buildings and the Mall of America, and the Mississippi River, and lakes, and museums. So many things to see and do! However, I have also found the city to be much more expensive.....

I have decided I would like to have a summer home here in Minnesota on one of the lakes. I absolutely loved Lake Itasca and didn't want to leave once my two week course was over. After being in the woods for two weeks coming to the big city was kind of shock. I had gotten used to watching the sunset from a canoe. Absolutely beautiful. But as I said, Minneapolis is a lot of fun.

My research is ok so far. I have learned so much about the immune system in just two weeks. I've made some presentations and (after FOUR attempts) finally succeeded in producing a satisfactory western blot. I have one more week until I start my very own project (I'm still just helping my mentor).

Anyway, here are some pics of the beautiful lake!

Summer in the City

Hey Y'all,

I did a post a while back, hinting at some places I'd be visiting in the coming weeks. Well, I'm happy to say that I am back at home—safe and sound. I'm also ready to reveal my mystery destinations.

Destination number one may have been the easiest to figure out. It was Atlanta! I’m from a very small town in the Deep South so it was nice to be in the city again. I spent two days in Atlanta, my home town and the location of Emory University, attending the Communities in Schools Summer Training Institute. This is actually a special conference for educators but I was asked to attend because I received a scholarship from the Wal-mart Foundation and Communities in Schools National as a high school senior. The trip was very brief but it gave me a chance to relax in a nice hotel and do some networking before moving on to my next city.



The following day, I woke up at 9 AM and drove to the airport. From there I passed through security and boarded my plane to Washington, D.C. This particular trip was sponsored completely by the Gates Millennium Scholars Program and really gave me the opportunity to do more networking, do some career exploration (my future is undetermined, as of now), and rediscover the city that I hadn't seen in years. About 30 other scholars and I were given the opportunity to attend the American Library Association's Conference and Exhibition that went on over our 5-day stay.



The conference gives students of Library and Information Sciences and Library/Information Science professionals the chance to experience the latest and greatest developments in their fields, meet famous authors, and attend sessions that encourage library improvement and advocacy. Over 23,000 people were in attendance and it was just about as amazing as it sounds. Thousands of sessions went on throughout the week and I wanted to attend every single one of them but I could only go to a few. When I wasn't in sessions I was seeing the city with other scholars! In addition to the great learning experience, I made a lot of new friends, and came back with tons of free swag from some of the sponsors at the conference. I had a great time!




I'll be updating more throughout the summer!

‘Til Next Time,
Imani

Digging trenches in Jordan!

Hey everyone! Currently I'm in Jordan and have been for the last week and a half, though this is one of the few times I have internet, since I am in Amman for the day. The team this year consists of Oxford Professors Dr. Aaron Stutz and Dr. Liv Nilsson-Stutz, former Oxford student Brittany Mayo, Emory PhD student Joshua Robinson, Dr. Jamie Clark, Anna Trainer (former student of Dr. Aaron Stutz), and myself.

This year in Jordan we are doing test excavations ... which have quickly turned into an ACTUAL excavation. The site we were here to determine whether or not it was actually a paleolithic site, is definitely a site, though what time period we are unsure of, all of the artifacts, which there are TONS of, are very ambiguous, since we are still only a few centimeters under the surface. At the moment, it appears that there are also ruins of a wall structure or a pavement near the surface, we are trying to see how to excavate the feature effectively.

Days start at 4 in the morning, when we wake up so that we can get to the site no later than 5:30 am, since we need to start work early because by noon it is too hot to continue working, since we are working on the East Bank of the Jordan Valley. Working in our cave on the East Bank allows us to see the West Bank from where we are working. Each day some of the team members get text messages on their phone saying "Welcome to Palestine!" the reception isn't that accurate here in the valley haha... Though one day it was a little hairy in the morning, we heard explosions coming from the West Bank an looked over and saw the smoke. Along with a few gunshots and aircraft, we decided that wasn't the best thing to be hearing in the morning coming from the West Bank... but we learned from our dig house's caretaker that it was just the Israelis doing training exercises on their side of the Valley which they do occasionally, and none of the locals seemed worried. It did make for a very interesting morning though! Nothing like a bit of excitement to add to your adventure!

We also took a trip to the ancient Roman city of Jerash and saw the ruins there and the Temple of Artemis, though it was weird because all the writing on the ruins was in ancient Greek and not Latin, which according to Brittnay who is majoring in classics, is extremely strange considering the Romans are usually known for using Latin and writing over everything in Latin.

So as you can tell, a LOT is going on right now! I've posted some pictures below but I will leave the update at this considering I'm exhausted from all the physical work and waking up at 4 in the morning daily! Though I'm having an amazing time once again this year, and even have gotten to see some of the other archaeologists I met last year and chat with them about their projects this weekend, so it was somewhat like a mini reunion for me! I hope you all are having a great summer as well!!

Pictures Below:

Dr. Stutz setting up the grid and grad student Josh
Roman Ampitheater 2 at Jerash
Me in the Temple of Artemis
The Temple of Artmeis
City of Jerash
At work with smoke on the West Bank in the background
Working on the terrace of the cave
Working on the terrace more

Exciting Adventures on the Research Front

Well, it comes a time in every one's research when you get extremely frustrated and you wonder if anything will ever work or are you at a dead end. Let me say that I have felt that way about my research this summer for the past couple of weeks.

First off, the sequencer in our lab, the primary machine I need to verify many mutations for my research, was not working at all. No peaks were coming up and I feared that I would not have any data at the end of the program except for some gel electrophoresis images. While these photos are nice, they cannot conclude if the one-base pair mutation is there or not. Then this week, Lynn, the research assistant in my lab who has taught me so much figured out what was wrong with the machine: the cable was on "test" rather than "run." That's all! We just had to change the cable hook-up and viola! it's working now! Now, I'm quite excited that I shall have data!

Also, for the past couple of weeks, I have been testing primers to find the optimal conditions for them. For the first 15 out of 16 primers, everything was great: I got the conditions down right away. But this one primer just would not work. I must have prepared about 5 PCRs and ran the gel just as many times. But to avail. I would either have no bands (which is quite distressing for a student who always had clear bands in her gels from her labs in general Biology and genetics) or I would have multiple bands. Finally, I gave up on that primer, designed a new one for the same locus of DNA I wanted and the new primer came in today. So, I'm in the process of preparing it.

Then, on Tuesday, I decided to do a PCR of about 10 samples for various genes. I was so afraid that I would mess up again and there would be no bands on any of the samples. BUT every sample produced a band! And the band lengths were just right. I was so excited that I started dancing in front of the imaging machine. Thankfully, no one walked into the room while I was doing this, because then they would have thought that I was insane.

So, I've been feeling a little better about my research. I'm finally getting data. My mentor returned from a trip to Europe and brought me back cookies! And told me to keep up the good work (I had been emailing him daily about my distressing primer situation and the later fantastic gel along with the dancing. I also think that the research assistant was filling him in about how I was helping around the lab). He's off to a convention for the Endocrine Society and I'll see him in about a week. He also wants me to present at his lab meeting when he gets back. And these lab meetings are not just him and the research assistant that helps me, it's everyone who works in the lab, along with collaborators from other labs and Ob/Gyns from the hospital because they help out with the clinical aspect of his research. (My mentor is an Ob/Gyn, but also has a lab to investigate specific puberty disorders)

Well, time to get back to research. I'm sorry if this is boring for all the non-science people out there! But I cannot imagine working outside of the science/medicine world!

Peace and love,
Lizzy-

Hello all! I am now in northern Minnesota taking my molecular genetics class to get ready for summer research. I work in the lab from 8AM to 6PM isolating plasmids and RNA, doing tissue cultures, running PCR, gel electrophoesis, basically cool stuff if you are a science nerd :) I am having so much fun meeting other people who share my interests and learning and practicing skills that will be very valuable in my future as a researcher this summer, next year back at Oxford, and beyond undergrad. I am kind of thankful for the weekend because it has been a VERY full week. I am excited to start my project a week from Saturday.

While my research will take place in the Twin Cities, I am taking the class 4 hours north at Lake Itasca, which leads into the headwaters of the Mississippi River. I have been kayaking and hiking, roasting marshmallows, and am planning a long bike ride for this weekend. It has been a wonderful experience so far, and I can't wait for the rest of the summer!

If you are interested, I have some more specifics about my summer research. I will be studying a very involved biochemical pathway that activates transmembrane proteins called integrins that are found in T-lymphocytes. These integrins, when activated, direct the T-cell to antigens and promote cell adhesion. The pathway that activates the integrins is really complicated with many steps, enzymes, proteins, and reactions. I don't know which piece of the puzzle I will be focusing on directly, but I assume I will be studying some sort of gene expression in this pathway. That means real time PCR and isolating mRNA!!!! It's rather complicated, and I was rather unsuccessful at doing those things this week. However, it was my first try, and I am excited to learn and get better and better!!!

Ok no more science stuff for now!! BYE BYE
Susanna

From Oxford to Oxford

It’s almost been a month since the end of my first year of college. My first year of college was filled to the brim with various things that made my experience so enjoyable. Looking back, it seems crazy that I managed to do so much in such a short period of time.

Summer has been relaxing so far. I’ve done various sorts of activities in order to keep myself busy. It is great to finally have some time to read for leisure. I’m currently tackling The Brother’s Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Not only have I been able to read, I’ve also been able to do some writing and even draw. The rest of my time is spent playing basketball, running, or watching sports. I run three times a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I've managed to cover about five miles a day in recent weeks.

June 29. That is the day I’m leaving the US for the UK. In less than two months I will have gone from one Oxford to the other. Oxford University is one of the oldest universities in the world. It would be an understatement to say that I’m extremely excited about this trip. This will be my first venture into Europe and I expect I will learn plenty during my stay in the UK. I am taking two classes: British Anti-Slavery and Chuchill and Modern Britain.

Stay tuned for more on Jeffrey’s Summer Adventures!

Summer Plans!

Hey Y'all

Guess what!?! I'm taking two trips at the end of the month through two different scholarships that I got when I was a freshman. I'll give a more detailed post, with pictures, after I come back.

Here are some hints about my two destinations:

1. I am very familiar with the first city that I'm visiting -- you could call it my second home
2. I've only been to the second city once, in the 8th grade
3. Both cities have long and rich histories
4. Both cities are capitals. . .  one of a state the other of a country

Can you figure out where I'm going???

'Til Next Time,
imani :)

Researching!

Hi again!

So, I have a few minutes while waiting for a gel electrophoresis and an ethanol precipitation to write this post.

Like I said in a prior post, I am researching at Medical College of Georgia in Augusta! It's been really awesome so far. Last week, I had to give a powerpoint presentation to our lab group about my project that I researching this summer. It was very nerve-wrecking, but my mentor told me a did good job, so that made it worth it!

For my first part of my research, I am verifying a series of mutations found in patients with IHH/KS. So, I've been looking at a lot of chromatograms, identifying the single base mutations and designing primers so that I can repeat PCR and sequencing to make sure that these mutations are really there! I finally got a hughe shipment of primers this week! I've been working with them, making sure I have the proper controls with a series of controls we have in the lab.

The second part of my project has to do with NELF knockdown. A knockdown is when you, in effect, "knockdown" the representation of that gene, as though it was not there. You can knockdown genes with miRNA. My mentor is working on the knockdown. After we get a confirmed knockdown of NELF, I shall be observing the effects of downstream genes. This is to see if NELF is a transcription factor that hinders or aides the transcription of certain genes.

Well, my ethanol precipitation is almost done. I should get back to it and start the sequencing reaction!

Peace and love,
Lizzy

Orientation's Great!

Orientation planning has already begun and our orientation leaders (PALS) are so excited to meet you all! Please visit the orientation website for details about the orientation schedule and more!

Make sure you have checked out our Deposited Student Handbook online for all the forms and more information you will need before you arrive on campus in August!