Pembroke College

　　Today, the Degree Ceremony was held. We equipped ourselves well and headed for Pembroke College which our daughter belonged to. We had seen it from outside, but it was the first time to get in. We arrived at the entrance more than one hour earlier than the schedule, and walked around the college. The buildings were laden with historic importance. They must have survived for a few centuries.
　　How did our daughter spend her time here for a few years? I've read some English papers of our daughter and admired her. The grant which she had received was not reimbursable for two years. Meanwhile, she got her physician's license in the U.K. too. She earned her bread and butter by working as a physician in the U.K. During the pandemic, she went back to Japan and worked as a trainee doctor to make money for learning, joining the class of Oxford University through the net on the other hand. She doubled the postgraduate of Oxford University and a Japanese doctor to survive the pandemic. She's really wonderful.

(Vocabulary)
equip oneself well, get ready to 身支度をする
reimbursable adj.〈費用・経費などが〉償還の対象になる, 払い戻してもらえる
bursary(英), grant (国の) 補助［助成］金, 奨学金

　今日はこの旅行の目的である娘の学位授与式がある。身支度を調え、娘の所属するペンブロークカレッジへ向かった。外から眺めたことはあるが、内部へ入るのは初めて。予定よりも１時間以上早く着いてしまったので、ゆっくりと外周を歩いてみた。その雰囲気に圧倒された。何百年も前の建築に違いない。
　ここで娘はどのようなことを学んだのだろうか。娘の書いた英語論文をいくつか読んでみたが、たいしたものだと思う。最初の２年間は衣食住、学費全て返済不要の奨学金をもらえた。その間にイギリスの医師免許を取得し、医師としてのアルバイトで生計を立て、コロナの時期には一時帰国し、リモートでオックスフォードでの研究を続けながら、一方で研修医として働き、留学に関わる一切の費用を自分でまかなった。オックスフォード大学の学生と日本の研修医の２足のわらじでこの時期をしのいだ。たいした奴だと思う。