The Cornerstone Oxford English Program has been created by Michael Pasquale, associate professor of linguistics, to give students an opportunity to study at the prestigious school located in Oxfordshire, Southeast England.

“June 2008 was the first time it was introduced, and it included four weeks of three Cornerstone University (CU) English as Second Language (ESL) students teaching English pronunciation to 22 Asian students studying toward graduate degrees in various fields,” Pasquale said. The CU students were also enrolled in a Second Language Acquisition class, taught by Pasquale, and earned three course credits. CU competitive fellowship scholarships were awarded to each student and helped pay for most of the $4,000 expense. The program was created to “include more students at CU,” Pasquale said. The dream of the humanities division is “to bring more students each summer to this type of program,” that will not only include ESL students.“For students to take a course and minister and serve in the church in some way,” he said, “go for learning, but go for serving.”

Pasquale also said another purpose of the program was to connect Asian students with churches, so that when he and the CU students leave, the Asian students “would continue to be connected” within the local community. The CU students also went on field trips with the Asian students to build relationships.

Natalie Miller, 23, who graduated in May from Professional Graduate Studies (PGS) with a master’s in TESOL, and who was selected to go on the trip, remembers one Asian student who was curious to know more about the God she served. She said that after class, there was a program called English Corner that was created for students to practice conversational English while enjoying snacks and drinks. After she began talking with a group of guys, they noticed that she was wearing a cross and began to question her. Miller said that one guy in the group had studied the Bible and “he knew about Jesus, but not what his sacrifice meant to us,” she said. Once Miller began answering their queries and they recognized that she knew the Bible just as well but with a different perspective, they began to continue with questions. Eventually, she said they all had to be kicked out of the room because class had ended, and they were still asking questions.

Danielle De Luca, 28, who is enrolled in PGS and who was also one of the students selected, said, “it was amazing” to be able to teach outside of the U.S. “These students were visiting scholars, extremely intelligent and well versed,” she said. “It was amazing to be around these innovators and leaders in their field. It was learning and teaching at the same time.” Although it was “amazing,” the beginning of the trip began a little rocky for De Luca after being sick for almost a week and having her wallet stolen. She said she had left her wallet, which contained insurance cards, credit cards and all the cash she had brought, in her bag and intended on having the cash converted to euros, when she noticed it was gone.

“The students took up a collection for me,” she said. The total amount was enough to get her through the four-week stay. During her entire trip there, De Luca said it was about prayer and faith and her testimony of prayers being answered. “Every time we were in need of something, it was provided,” she said.

Besides those rocky moments, De Luca said that she will never forget her experience at Oxford because of the history. “There’s so much culture and history,” she said. “It’s like every nook and cranny has a story.