It is no secret that Oxford College’s nightlife pales in comparison to that on the Atlanta campus. On most Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, shuttles to Atlanta are full of students with plans to go to fraternities, bars or clubs. This is not to say that Oxford is desolate on weekend nights; in fact, the vast majority of students choose to stay at Oxford with their individual, intimate friends in a dorm or common area. However, there are nights when the shuttles are empty, groups are active on campus and the true spirit of Oxford comes out. It is as if some force brings people together, time slows down and you can reach out and touch the tiny strings that connect us all. I like to call these “Ox Nights.”
As someone who does not enjoy traditional “going out,” Ox Nights are an important part of my Oxford experience. They are not a replacement for going out but something more special and unique. Ox Nights are not the same as casually running into a friend on campus, but they instead encompass a time when different friend groups, clubs and people come together and enjoy each other’s company. Sometimes, Ox Nights are spurred by a campus event, like a school dance or Irish Culture Club party on the Quadrangle, or just by happenstance.
I remember a night last semester when I was at a bonding event for the Oxford Student Admission Association, and the Korean American Student Association (KASA) was having a bonding event the same night. Some of us went and shared food with KASA, and I was able to meet new people and enjoy delicious samgyeopsal, ssam and kimchi fried rice. Another night, I was playing poker when I saw a group of acquaintances walking down the hall. I joined them, and we went to the courtyard between Elizer Hall and Murdy Hall, known as “Melizer Circle.” The collection of people in the circle, some of whom I knew and others I did not, was as unique as Oxford itself. It was a group that had no problem hanging out and having a good time but would likely never come together again.
On a typical Saturday night earlier this semester, I was hanging out with friends in their dorm room. I went downstairs to Murdy Hall’s kitchen to use the vending machine and ran into another group of friends baking a cake. They were planning to surprise a mutual friend for his birthday, so we all came down and sat with them while the cake was baking. As we waited for the birthday boy to come, we wandered to a Fleming Hall dorm party, and a collection of people followed us back to Murdy’s kitchen. When we got there, we all sang “Happy Birthday” and enjoyed vanilla ice cream and freshly baked chocolate cake. While the long-awaited cake and ice cream tasted savory and sweet, the people I got to share them with were even better.
This feeling of deep community and companionship is what is so special about these nights. They feature a diverse set of people who share much or little in common but come together to create memories. During these nights, I often think to myself, “How did I get here?” But it is never the journey or place that matters. It is the company and current moment I am in. I have met some of my closest friends during these times of authenticity and vulnerability. I have met people that I have never talked to again. But each person I have met has been an integral part of my Oxford experience.
I do not know how the social scene is in Atlanta, but I would not trade these nights at Oxford for the world. To me, these moments are only possible at Oxford. Our small community enables us to build and foster wide webs of connections, bridge gaps between one another and come together as one. These nights are a microcosm of what makes Oxford so special. In many ways, they are Oxford’s way of breaking the bubble we all live in, enabling genuine connection between diverse groups of people and allowing them to come together through shared experience.
As I look forward to transitioning to the Atlanta campus, these nights are among the things I will miss the most. Atlanta’s nightlife and social scene may draw those from Oxford in, but nothing can replace or replicate Ox Nights. Still, I will retain the memories and connections I’ve built through these experiences and take solace in the fact that Ox Nights will continue long after I move on. Luckily for me, I still have plenty of time left here at Oxford and plenty more people to meet. I’m certainly not ready to say goodbye just yet.
From birthday parties to dorm parties, from the Quad to the Seney Hall clocktower, each night is as unique as the next. I like to think that it is not just me who thinks of these nights as something more than just another night at Oxford, but I suppose every person has their own definition of what an Ox Night is. I hope that through reading mine, you have felt the special feeling that overcomes me on these nights. The feeling of meeting someone and sharing a moment together. With both of us knowing that whether or not we meet again, we will have, at least for a moment, broken each other’s bubbles, understood something about the other person and relished in our similarities and differences. After all, our biggest similarity is what enables us to come together in the first place.
Pierce McDade (25Ox) is from Bloomington, Ill.
