Some months on campus are about arrivals and exams. September belonged to one celebration, and to the students who organized it.
On 23 September, our Saudi students marked Saudi National Day with the whole school invited. There were thobes and shemagh, a snack table, songs, a line dance, and a lot of green flags in hands that had never held one before. These are the photographs.
Saudi National Day
Saudi National Day falls on 23 September, the anniversary of the day in 1932 when the Kingdom took its name, and on the day itself our Saudi students were not going to let it pass quietly. Out came the white thobes and the red and white shemagh, a snack table went up by the building, and small green flags appeared in every hand, including a good many hands that had never held one before. They sang together in rows in front of the main building, then linked arms for a line dance that pulled in more people as it went.
2 more from this day are in the photo gallery.
Why a day like this matters
A campus with students from many countries can easily turn into a set of separate tables: each group eating together, speaking its own language, and meeting the others only in class. Days like this one work against that. Nobody in a line dance asks what your first language is. The only language every student on the lawn had in common was English, so that is the language the afternoon ran in.
It works the other way too. A student who spends a few months far from home still carries their own calendar, and it matters when the place they are living in notices it. The rest of the school learned what the day means because the students it belongs to explained it, in English, to people who asked.
If you are thinking of coming from Saudi Arabia or the Gulf, there are two pages worth reading next.
- Students from Saudi Arabia covers the visa, the journey and the support you get here.
- Muslim student life explains the halal station in the dining hall and the Arabic-speaking manager.
Next month's photos could have you in them
Tell us your level and roughly when you want to come, and we will tell you what a term here would look like for you.
Apply Now and Reserve Your RoomYou can also read last month's recap, see what the dining hall serves, or browse every set of photos in the gallery.
