Study Abroad: It’s Tea Time, Mates!
Seeing as it's mid-October, I will fully admit that it took me an embarrassingly long time to jump back on the blogging horse once I got to school this fall. . . . (Like, this has pretty much been me for the past few months.)
The upside, however, is that I only fell off a metaphorical horse unlike that poor guy, and I now have extremely happy news to share!
I'M STUDYING ABROAD NEXT SEMESTER! This is like, the most exciting thing that has happened to me since . . . I don't even know when. Starting in January, I will be spending five months in London, where I will get to experience the great triumvirate of going to school, working, and living in a foreign country all at once. The program I've been accepted to is a UR-approved program called EPA Internships in Europe. So, while my program is specifically in London, there are locations in other cities such as Berlin and Madrid, among others. My program is structured to give students the opportunity to take two classes at the University of Westminster with other students who go there full-time, to partake in a part-time internship in a pre-determined field (my field of choice is journalism, although the specific place where I'll be interning won't be determined until closer to my departure date), and to live in a flat in the city as opposed to in a dorm or in a homestay set up.
In order to fully appreciate the magnitude of this situation, let me put it like this: I've been waiting, talking about, and dreaming of going to London since I was 6 years old; in other words, I've spent 70% of my life chasing the idea of London. At this point, I think any experience short of spending five months fully immersed in everything London has to offer and getting to act like an honorary Londoner would not be good enough to satisfy my built up anticipation. A quick vacation to see Big Ben, drink some tea, and ride a boat down The Thames just wouldn't do it for me. I'm actually a little nervous that I will legitimately stop breathing when I step off the plane and finally see Ol' Blighty face-to-face. I know that sounds completely ridiculous and overdramatic, but it is actually a concern of mine!
Let it be known that with this excitement does come a tinge of sadness, and despite my undying love of all things English, deciding to apply to this program was actually something that I spent my entire summer contemplating and making pro/con lists about. I obviously chose to come to Rochester because the school means a lot to me, so the idea of spending an entire semester away wasn't something that appealed to me. Going abroad this spring would mean missing a semester of wonderful courses; not performing in Celtic's annual St. Patrick's Day show in March; not running for a position on Campus Times' next volume, which starts in January; enduring complications during the housing lottery in the spring; experiencing one fewer Dandelion Day celebration at the end of the spring semester; and lastly, and most upsettingly, missing my last possible semester to be on campus with all of my friends who are a year older than me. I wouldn't even be back in this country in time to see them graduate, meaning they'll just be . . . gone when I come back to school next fall.
All of these things weighed pretty heavily in my decision-making process, but here's how I ultimately figured out what to do: Although I won't be in Rochester for spring 2013 classes, I'll get to take two unique courses at Westminster that I wouldn't have the opportunity to take here. Although I won't be able to dance in Celtic's St. Patrick's Day show this year, I could very well straight up be in Dublin for St. Patrick's Day, which will be a huge amount of fun. Although figuring out housing will be slightly more complicated than usual (and it's already pretty complicated), I will have friends in Rochester who can sign up for housing in my absence. Although Dandelion Day is a lot of fun, I'll get to celebrate the end of my semester abroad by witnessing the famous English spring and by traveling around Europe during spring break. And finally, although I am really sad about the impending graduation of a decent chunk of my friends, I'm confident that I'll be able to keep in touch with them just as I've done with my high school friends since we all split up and went to dispersed colleges.
It was a tough decision, though, and I actually think it was the first time in my life that saying yes to one thing meant actively saying no to another thing that is just as important to me. But I'm really happy with my decision and have been brimming with excitement ever since I got my acceptance email, which is definitely evidenced in the fact that I've already started compiling a playlist of all of my favorite UK bands for the plane ride over. So far it includes Lily Allen, The Kooks, Kaiser Chiefs, The La's, Arctic Monkeys, The Rolling Stones, and, of course, The Beatles.
My roommate is also going to study abroad in the spring, but in Denmark, so we've started planning a farewell party in which we will literally just split our apartment down the middle and have a British theme on one side and a Danish theme on the other. So far I've got her beat in terms of decorating plans because I've been cultivating a collection of British things for years now, including a huge Union Jack flag, so she has her work cut out for her.
I'm in no rush for this semester to end—it's been my favorite semester at Rochester so far—but I am definitely antsy to finally set foot across the pond.
