It’s strange that just last week we were learning about the “Iron Lady” in British Studies and today we find out that she died. Margaret Thatcher left her mark on Baker University through her presence at the rededication ceremony of Osborne Chapel in 1996, a chapel where her father had preached in Sproxton, England.

Yesterday, four of us Baker students who are studying abroad at Harlaxton College<a href="http://www.ueharlax.ac.uk/">Harlaxton College</a> paid a visit to the original location of Osborne Chapel. A plaque stands reading, “Site of Sproxton Methodist Church, 1864-1995, given to Baker University, Baldwin City, Kansas USA, for a house of worship 1995.” All of the bricks in the surrounding area match the bricks of the chapel, and it was easy to imagine them placed in that location. paid a visit to the original location of Osborne Chapel. A plaque stands reading, “Site of Sproxton Methodist Church, 1864-1995, given to Baker University, Baldwin City, Kansas USA, for a house of worship 1995.” All of the bricks in the surrounding area match the bricks of the chapel, and it was easy to imagine them placed in that location. Harlaxton College paid a visit to the original location of Osborne Chapel. A plaque stands reading, “Site of Sproxton Methodist Church, 1864-1995, given to Baker University, Baldwin City, Kansas USA, for a house of worship 1995.” All of the bricks in the surrounding area match the bricks of the chapel, and it was easy to imagine them placed in that location.

We were unaware that we were visiting a historic site just hours before the world lost a historic figure. Even more appropriate is that we are studying in Grantham, England, the town in which Thatcher was born.

In British Studies, Thatcher is not the most celebrated figure in Britain’s history. Her way of dealing with strike, financial problems and more specifically the poll tax are all points of discussion. There was even a moment in which a professor referred to her as “Milk Snatcher Thatcher” because of a policy that removed free milk from school lunches.

As a Baker student, I feel as if I have biased views toward her. The number of times I have stood in front of Osborne Chapel giving a tour and telling the story of how Thatcher, the former British Prime Minister, visited this very location and rededicated it, gives me a much higher respect for her.

I was not affected by the poll tax and I certainly didn’t lose my milk, but I have had several amazing experiences in Osborne Chapel that I truly appreciate and Thatcher is a part of that chapel’s history.

Thatcher was the first woman prime minister — there is even a philosophy based on her government called Thatcherism, and she did change Britain forever through her policies. As we learned in British Studies, she shaped British identity into what it is today.

In Britain, her time as Prime Minister was full of controversy and mixed opinions, but at Baker University she is put on a pedestal, and as a student of Baker I can appreciate that. We were lucky enough to have a visit from her in 1995, and it is a visit that is still talked about now.

As I sit here in England, looking at pictures of the location I visited yesterday and knowing that I am sitting in the town she was born, I feel like I am a part of history. The world lost a great figure today and I am proud to have seen where she was from before she was gone.