Hear from our students: Nina Lewis, Summer Programmes

Nina Lewis (38 at the time of interviewing) runs her own international radio station, Purple Rose Planet, in Michigan, USA. As well as being a full-time entrepreneur, she is also an author and a life coach. In her mid-30s, she decided to go back to college and was in the middle of studying for a Master of Liberal Arts at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore when one of her advisors told her about the University of Cambridge’s Summer Programme.

“I looked at it and I thought, ‘Wow, this is an awesome opportunity’. I had no idea at the time how I would fit in. I had never been to Cambridge or the UK before,” she said. Before she knew it, Nina was boarding a plane to the UK.

“It was daunting at first because you see and you hear about universities as rich in culture and history as Cambridge and you never think that you’ll have an opportunity to study there or actually see it for yourself,” she admitted. “My first day there was a smooth transition from the airport, from London to Cambridge,” she recalled. “I got off the bus and I just started walking. I had no idea where I was going. I didn’t know how far I'd be walking but it turned out to be the perfect way to learn about the city. Everyone I ran into was friendly and helpful if I had any questions. I was just looking around like, ‘Wow I’m really here’.”

Nina relished the opportunity to experience traditional university life in the UK after first studying at vocational college and then taking many of her courses online. “It was so cool because this was my first traditional college experience – my first experience after high school. So when I got to Cambridge, going to the hall and eating on campus, walking through gardens, seeing people, it was my first time really feeling like I was at college with other peers,” she said. “. Although I had a great educational academic journey, I missed that part of school and I was able to have that in Cambridge – an environment with people who’ve had all different kinds of experiences, from all walks of life.”

While in Cambridge, Nina enrolled in literature courses that covered authors including Dickens, Tolkien and Carroll – and, crucially, she was able to write an essay that counted towards her Master’s degree at Johns Hopkins.  “The engagement inside of the classroom was really awesome,” she said. “It was a way to discuss the literature that you love and have an understanding for, find out more about the stories and the authors and the eras in which they were written, the ideas behind the stories and what the world was like at the time the author was writing. That engagement with all those other people and the instructors who teach actively at the University, that was the best. I loved that.”

“The highlight for me was a course called Facing the Fear, which included Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. We talked about the Hounds of Baskerville as well but Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde has always been one of my favourite stories. That’s the course that I wrote my essay on.” 

“It’s not every day that you get the opportunity to write an essay where you can be judged at the standard of a university like Cambridge,” she said. “As a developing academic, it was great to have that insight come from another institution. It was very mature, very engaging – everyone was accepting of what others had to say. That really boosted my confidence with academics.”

“I felt it was an outstanding achievement for myself,” said Nina. “I really had to take a moment every day and kind of high five myself.” 

In fact, Nina enjoyed her first experience in Cambridge so much that she plans to enrol again. “I never even dreamed that I would go and be on the campus, let alone be able to study there,” she said. “I just never considered it as something I’d have the opportunity to do. But I fell in love with it, so I want to come back over and over again.”

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