Michigan State University’s newest Rhodes Scholar began her studies at Oxford last fall. Sarah Kovan is now in her second term there.
Next summer, she plans to begin sending out medical school applications.
Kovan says she hadn’t fully comprehended the number of intellectual discussions and lectures she would have access to at Oxford. "What's really unique about the system," Kovan says, "especially the medical anthropology program that I'm in, is they like to combine a lot of different forms of teaching and education. I have lectures, I'm involved in seminars, we have weekly tutorials and essays. They take every form of teaching and try to combine it into one."
Kovan goes on to say that the British view the Rhodes Scholarship in a completely different way than Americans. The Rhodes community enjoys spending time together. "Outside of that," she continues, "it does not come up as much. People within my program don't necessarily know that I'm a Rhodes Scholar. People within the U.K. aren't quite as familiar with the scholarship itself."
Kovan captained the women's soccer team at MSU. She's finding time to play the game known as football there on her college's team, which she describes as comparable to an American intramural team. She's also involved with the Oxford community garden.