I found "A Room of MY Own"

Dear Reader,

It has been a week since I arrived at Cambridge. The town is beautiful and there is always something new to discover in the zig-zagging streets with crowds of tourist, locals, and coaches that inhabit the town. Every path I take whether its known to me or not has something to offer like a small shop that serves great coffee or clandestine-like alleyways that lead to a historical site of the Cambridge University. On the streets one is bound to hit a little secret of Cambridge. The biggest thing to explore are of course the colleges in Cambridge such as King's and Pembroke. I have wandered the libraries, staircases, halls, and bridges of King's thinking to myself, did Virginia Woolf walk along this path so many years ago during her visits and stays at the university?

The classrooms in the college are old and the passing of time jumps from the shelves that hold the books; knowledges of philosophers, artist, writers, intellectuals, and so many more. The coursework here is so rich because it is closely connected to the history of Cambridge. I am currently taking a Bloomsbury and English Culture course in which we are presently looking at the writings of Virginia Woolf and in particular "A Room of One's Own". I remember walking into the Ryland Room as Dr. Peter Jones started the lecture about a particular scene in Woolf's novel. As I sat he began to read the description of the lunch scene from the book. We all sat around and discussed the particular scene and began touching basis with what might have lead Virginia Woolf to write such an interesting piece, concentrating on the lunch scene.

Dr. Peter Jones, a medieval historian and librarian of the school, emphasized the particularity of the room we where all sitting in, while discussing Woolf's text. The Ryland Room named after George Dadie Ryland lived in the room until his last days of his life in 1999. He was a fellow of the school from 1927 until his death and was connected to the Bloomsbury writings through his friendship to Woolf. As I wrote this down, the professor placed attention to the fact that we were sitting in the very same room in which Virginia Woolf had lunch with Dadie Ryland and many of the Bloomsbury "group". This room was the place for her inspiration in the beginning of "A Room of One's Own". Those words gave me chills and my eyes brightened to know that I was sitting in the very room where Woolf had lunch with other Bloomsbury intellectuals. Dr. Jones pointed to the window and explained that this window is for certain the window described in Woolf's novel. It was difficult to digest the reality of where I was sitting. I was as close as I could be to Virginia Woolf and many of the writers I had studied in text back in the states. I will find it difficult to know that for the rest of the summer I will have studied and discussed literature in the rooms in which many of these writers inhabited. I can truly say that I have walked into "A Room of One's Own", that I have walked into A Room of MY Own.

A Study Place of My Own

A better view from my study spot

Best,
Bertii

p.s: "I'm off to wander Edinburgh, Scotland and will write upon my return"