The Spire

Matt Nickerson ‘24

Chief Features Editor

Dominus illuminatio mea. “The Lord is my light.” Those are the words Griffin Gudaitis ‘22 knows extremely well, in his current position as a MPhil (Master of Philosophy) Candidate in English literature (650-1550) at Linacre College, Oxford University. Having recently extended his course from a one-year MSt (Master of Studies) course, Griffin takes coursework mostly in Old English, and he plans to write his dissertation on the early history of the archetypal figure of the trickster as a craftsman of cunning, deceit, and wordplay in the Exeter Book Riddles. Griffin is actually no stranger to Oxford, having returned after studying abroad there as a junior in 2021, but he never thought he’d be an enrolled student on campus ever again. 

Majoring in English and Classics with a Creative Writing concentration, Griffin graduated from Holy Cross summa cum laude. His involvements on campus included the Purple and Parnassus magazines, the Holy Cross Men’s Rugby Football Club, and a tutor at the Nativity School in Worcester. Yet, with all of these activities and experiences, Griffin admits, he had no idea how his love of creative writing could turn into profitable work. Upon graduation, Griffin spent months applying to teach high school English, finally getting positions at Catholic Memorial in Boston. As he taught, his thoughts were on attending graduate school, but he held reservations. “I always knew I belonged in a classroom,” says Griffin. “I always loved to learn. Professors told me I’d love grad school, but it was daunting. Grad school acceptance rates are way lower than undergrad, especially for creative writing MFA’s. Your chances of getting in are rock bottom low; your chances of falling into +$100,000 in debt seem like they’re guaranteed. None of my close friends studied English. Everyone was set on different paths.”

Graduate school seemed even more like a pipe dream because Griffin wasn’t initially accepted into Oxford. He was motivated to apply due to his fulfilling experience studying at Mansfield College, Oxford during Hilary and Trinity term from January to July, 2021– one of the few lucky ones from his grade to be able to study abroad during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Studying at Oxford was the best academic experience of my life. The classes I took, the friends I made, the  teachers I had—they all changed my life.” Yet in spite of this experience at Oxford, Griffin was rejected for a master’s on early modern literature in 2022. Rather than fall into doubt and regret, he thought back to the words of Professor Nancy Andrews of the Classics Department: “Working in the real world will toughen you up.” This marked a fundamental shift in Griffin’s vision for his future: he’d rather return to his love of learning, and doing something he loved, than making money at a job he didn’t like. He sent new applications to the University of Arizona, Dartmouth, and Columbia, and considered UChicago and St. Andrew’s for master’s courses in creative  writing, medieval literature, and early modern drama. The other adjustment Griffin made was shifting his studies to medievalism after focusing on early modernism at Holy Cross. He credits this willingness to even his admissions odds to eventually being accepted into Oxford. “I wasn’t a trained medievalist, but I learned that grad school is similar to undergrad in this regard: you’re applying to be a student; you don’t need to know everything,” he observes.

One may easily assume that it is quite the shock to be attending a foreign institution as an enrolled student– let alone one so globally renowned as Oxford, the oldest educational institution in the Anglosphere. (And the second-oldest university still in operation, only behind the University of Bologna in Italy.) Not exactly, says Griffin: he is surrounded by so many other students from different countries, and thus many are in the same boat of trying to immerse themselves in a new cultural environment. He admits that he did initially feel imposter’s syndrome, but that he quickly began to feel comfortable once his nerves subsided. He speaks of the interesting traditions offered by oxford, such as wearing the subfusc formal clothing and attending candelabrum-lit formal dinners. “The best part of studying here I’d say are having people who understand why I love writing,” Griffin reflects.  “I have a small writing group with a few of my medievalist buddies; we met at the pubs where Tolkien, C.S.  Lewis, and the Inklings gathered. I’ve been participating in some literary magazines and  competitions, trying to grow my small list of published works little by little. There are a lot of things to try here, and when I’m done with rugby in March, I’m going to audition for a play.” Yet he distinctly notes that life at Oxford is rather similar to Holy Cross, filled with morning coffee with friends, doing homework and required readings across the day, meetings with his dissertation supervisor and faculty, and evening rugby for the university team. 

“If you want to try to see what the rest of the world is like, apply overseas,” Griffin says simply. “Just like college, grad school is an opportunity to expand your horizons.” He passed these words along to Professor Klotz, the graduate advisor for the English Department, last week to be shared with the English majors thinking of their own futures. He highlights that his experience at Oxford, in class with many other international postgrad students, is common at schools such as Cambridge, St. Andrew’s, and Trinity, among others. Whatever the school, the application process is the same abroad as in the States: consisting of a 1,000 word statement of purpose, several recommendation letters, and a work sample. “It’s much more like a job application than the Common App essay: you have to explain why you are a fit candidate,” Griffin notes. He advises students to gain as much knowledge of their programs to be able to pour their passion and knowledge, from potential classes, research interests, and just general passions for literature, into the personal statement: which he cites as the most important part of the application. 

Students curious about graduate school, particularly concerning ones abroad, are welcome to correspond with Griffin at griffin.gudaitis@linacre.ox.ac.uk. In his last words, he affirms: “Grad school is a wonderful place; if literature and language is your passion, you will find nowhere else better to explore it.”