On a sunny Tuesday afternoon, we followed Henna Messina, Oxford student and Fordham alumna, through the beautiful college town of Oxford University.

“My mother dyed her hair with Henna in the 80s and then my Dad was just like…whatever. And that’s how I got my name,” exclaimed our personal tour guide. Henna is currently three months into her semester at the prestigious university located just outside of London. The Gulfport, Mississippi native continued with, “My friends kept saying ‘Oh, you’re going to Ole Miss (referring to The University of Mississippi, located in the small town of Oxford, Mississippi)’ and I told them, ‘No, I’m going to the real Oxford!’” After her time at Oxford, Henna will return to the University of Georgia where she teaches freshman composition and is working on her doctoral dissertation in English.

Oxford University has a close resemblance to Harry Potter’s famous Hogwarts School. On any given day in June one can see many students parading around the town carrying books and backpacks in preparation for their finals. While the town does carry a resemblance to an American college town, there is a distinct fairytale twist.

The cobblestone sidewalks are constantly crowded with cyclists, parents, students and tourists during the busy spring and summer months. One can see the 38 beautiful Victorian style colleges that together make up the respected Oxford University while walking through the streets on campus. Henna explained, “there are a lot of weird things about Oxford that Americans just don’t understand.” She said, “They [The British] just expect you to understand.” This stands especially true for the Bodleian Library Oath students must take when coming to Oxford.

“You basically have to swear you will do nothing to destroy the library,” Henna said. Upon entering the Bodleian Library, one will notice the beautiful Radcliffe Camera located in the center. Designed by Sir Christopher Wren, mastermind behind St. Paul’s Cathedral, the superlative reading room of the library is a sanctuary for the students to study quietly during exams.

And Oxford University exams are no joke. “Most of the teaching is done through tutorials,” Henna described. “One to three students work with a single professor and have a lot of preparation for class. The students have a lot of reading to do as well as a 2,000 word paper submitted once a week.” She also explained that students apply to one of Oxford’s colleges with a specific major in mind and then take classes solely for that major.

Oxford University is designed differently than most American higher education institutions. Oxford classes consist of three terms a year that each last eight weeks. When the students finish their specialized term, they take exams to determine whether they pass. During exams, students will typically walk around town in black robes with different color carnations pinned to them. White carnations mean the student just started taking exams, pink means the student is halfway through and red means they are finished with their exams.

After our brief tour of the famous Radcliffe Camera we continued to the “Marks of Genius” exhibit, located in the Bodleian Library and a personal favorite of Henna. The exhibit consists of works and articles by some of history’s greatest masterminds including  Socrates, Plato, Gandhi, Jane Austen, Isaac Newtown and many more. “Rare and inexplicable, genius is considered the pinnacle of human creativity,” reads the plaque upon entrance to the exhibit. The jaw dropping collection also included the original Magna Carta, a piece that made Henna speechless up close.

After being on our feet for hours, we ended the tour at the delicious Thai restaurant, Chiang Mai Kitchen, located right outside the campus gates. “This place is one of my personal favorites, and not many people know about it,” Henna said with excitement when we sat down. She told us many of the Oxford students and teachers favored the Chiang Mai for their mouthwatering Pad Thai dishes. We ended the long day with both our minds and stomachs full, grateful for the time we spent with Henna at her home away from home.