The Year in Review

It is the 19th of December 2003. I sit at my desk in Virginia, overlooking the cove we live on, the snowflakes blowing outside, though it is too warm to stick. It's above zero Celsius, you know. What am I to make of the completion of my first year in England and the beginning of my second? A simple chronology of the year will not do justice to its richness and complexity, as can be attested from the Journals I have attached. This year was not wholly new, nor were changes so great as they were in 2002. Last year saw me graduating from St. Olaf College with degrees in Physics and Philosophy and taking up residence in Oxford for a year as a Visiting Student at New College. Living in a new culture, as well as coming to terms with having to motivate myself to learn because I was under no obligations from the University provided a great challenge for me, and one I believe I lived up to with great success.

I returned home in December 2002 with a very different perspective, at least on the outside. The seeds of change were being sowed deep into my being. How this was happening and what it meant, I had little idea. But I knew that I was in the right place at the right time. In relation to 2003, last year was about knocking away the first of the stilts upon which my view of life was built. From the struggles with my Senior Thesis on the qualifications a President's science advisor should have, to many conversations with friends on the nature of just 'being', of living in the world of the moment. I entered Oxford ready to find the path I wanted to walk. After a term there, I was pushing harder than ever, struggling at every turn to understand life and what it meant. And thus began 2003.

Hilary and Trinity Terms - January thru March and April thru Jun respectively - saw early mornings on the river, rowing past the misty horses still asleep in the meadows. There was the great changeover in housemates, as happened each term that academic year, at 10 St. Michael's Street. My studies ranged from quantum cryptography to anthropology to intelligence [agency] studies to a quirky little decision theory called clumsiness. There were Balls and crew dates, and many many nights spent at my little desk trying to create an essay out of my thoughts. There was, especially, the tenuous process of final acceptance to Oxford for my Masters of Science in Management Research - a process that continued on even after I began classes this Autumn!

The year in Oxford ended abruptly in June, when I flew to California at the end of 8th Week in Trinity to my Cousin Amy's wedding. A short time after that, I made a roadtrip from Virginia to Chicago - via Wisconsin and Minnesota - for the wedding of Angela Waterman and Andrew Hanson. It was so good to see my friends again, doubly so because I had made no strong friendships during my year at Oxford. Needing to make enough money at least to have food on the table this year, I found myself taking a job in a shipyard in Norfolk, Virginia for what was left of the summer. From cleaning out bilges and replacing septic pumps to replacing bed knobs and broomsticks, I got acquainted with a way of viewing the world I had not known before. I thank those I worked with for giving me this perspective that I lacked. I was lucky enough to make it back to Minnesota for the State Fair (I haven't missed one in 6 years!) before I returned to my new home across the pond.

And a new home it has become this year. Though I am still subject to the winds of change, plans must be made. As things stand at the moment, I intend to find funding for my doctorate (the DPhil in Management) and continue in Oxford for another good three or four years. I should hasten to say, though, that I do not necessarily consider myself as studying management, at least in the traditional idea of the term. And although I am at the Said Business School, I have no intention of getting into business management. That is the goal of my MBA counterparts. No, I affiliate myself directly with the Martin Institute for Science and Civilization, the brand new institute at Oxford that still has yet to be officially announced as I write this. Headed by my supervisor, Steve Rayner, its mandate is:

To identify science and technology issues likely to play especially critical roles in shaping the future world; to initiate and conduct research on such issues: to try to influence the course of technological and social change through the engagement of highest quality scholarship with key decision-makers in business, government, and civil society; to establish fellowship programmes with the aim of bringing together leading scholars and practitioners around the world to do research; to establish a symposium programme to be styled a World Forum on Science and Civilization; and to establish a teaching programme with the object of training future generations of world leaders.

What my work will actually be on has yet to be defined, though it will be concerned with how science and technology are reshaping the global interaction between states, businesses, and other non-governmental, non-corporate actors.

Studying is only part of the joy in my life right now. I have met a lot of good friends in the graduate community at New College. Nick Bouckaert, affectionately known as 'the Frenchman', livens up any mood. Take, for example, the time after my supervisor pointed out that I take my studies far too seriously. Leaving the meeting, I told Steve I would go grab a coffee and have a think; he said he thought I should have a drink (good supervisor!). I laughed, but as I walked away, it got to be a better and better idea. A quarter of an hour later I found myself on Nick's doorstep, champagne and glasses in hand to toast the seriousness of lifeÉat four in the afternoon. I brought four glasses, and the others were happily accepted by Anu Devi and Elissa Myers, two more good friends I have found this year. We help each other in studying, in exercising, and often times, in enjoying the nights in the City of Spires.

While this year is seeing me take a hiatus from rowing for New College, I have certainly kept busy, particularly in my new duties as the President of the Oxford Strategic Studies Group. The OSSG is a non-partisan group dedicated to providing a forum to understand current issues of regional and global strategic interest. I am responsible for inviting speakers ranging from Ambassadors and major generals to business leaders, media correspondents, professors, and graduate students. I also chair the weekly seminars and organise trips, this year to a number of organisations in London and Geneva. You can stay up to date on our events by visiting our website, www.oussg.org.uk. It is challenging, but I feel that I am living up to the task and I am certainly learning a great deal about how the world works, as it were, from the horse's mouth.

My life is rich right now. Richness does not only come in the chocolates the world gives me, but in the abundance of variety I find in each moment I live. I have danced to life this year. The melody may not always be pure, or sweet or gay, but it is in the dance itself that I am finding my joy.

Merry Christmas,

~Sam