London: A British Semester Abroad

I can't remember when my obsession with England started, but it probably began soon after my obsession with Harry Potter and was only encouraged by Jane Austen, Shakespeare and every notable, and admittedly nerdy, moment in England's history. When my high school offered a spring break trip to London my sophomore year, I jumped at the opportunity and never looked back.

During that brief trip, I realized that spending only a week in such a wonderful country would not be enough. As cliché as it may sound, I fell in love with London during that week. My trip mostly consisted of the cheesy, tourist side of London but I decided then and there that I would do whatever it took to make sure I studied abroad in college. Five years later, I have achieved  that goal. Xavier has plenty of study abroad opportunities if you are determined enough to make it happen, and I was definitely determined.

I knew that I wanted to go to Europe, but I had some trouble deciding exactly where to go. Ultimately, I decided on London because it was the city that I couldn't get out of my head. From Jan. 16 until May 11, I will be in London attempting to satisfy my obsession. Although I will be studying in London, I will also be traveling to other parts of the United Kingdom and Europe. The goal is to have as many new experiences as possible in a single semester, from meeting new people and attempting to understand different cultures, to seeing  places I have only ever read about. I also want to have the simple experience of going to a new place entirely by myself. At this point, I can't tell you for sure where I will go, what I will do or who I will meet. I have a week of orientation that includes a lot of site-seeing in and around London, but beyond that, I only have goals to accomplish and sites to see. But not knowing is all part of the experience.