Being in London has definitely been a challenge and a pleasure. Getting here was the easy part but things quickly became a little bit of a hassle once settling in. At first, the various questions like: “where is the underground?”, “the overground is different?” and “wait, what time does my bus leave?” ran through my head for the first couple weeks. Now hitting the halfway mark I’m asking myself, “where did the time go?”.
With CAPA London, I have been working through an internship with the British Youth Music Theatre under the development sector. This experience has allowed me to explore what my options truly are for my Music Business concentration. Taking classes like Introduction to Music Business and Music Marketing at Rollins allowed me a look into what to expect when entering into the field but having the opportunity to intern within your interests has been such a meaningful and rich experience. Not every aspect was so easy though, I had to overcome being thrown into a job I knew little about. I needed to grasp little language barriers and I had to learn how to time manage my work to get the most out of my 20-hour workweek. Over time, I was encouraged to travel around London to various auditions to see what the process of selection was like. Getting out of the office and seeing what your hard work sums up to is such an unreal ordeal. I’m hoping to take on larger projects within the development sector for the second half of the semester.
The classes on the other hand can be quite challenging in how many assignments are collaborative and making time to meet with classmates has proven to be the hardest task. Despite that, I feel like I’m gaining new ways to look at things every class period. Learning international concepts with these CAPA professors has given me a much broader perspective on business and an insight on how to be successful in a global market.
But the most important thing is the TRAVEL in London. Having the opportunity to get to see the city and understand the history has been so much fun. After about six weeks in the country, I feel like I have mostly conquered public transportation and gotten into a good routine where I’m not late for work nor class. On the weekends after all the homework, I try to explore as much as I can and try new things. I don’t feel like an ‘American stuck in London’ anymore and feel like more of a Londoner (as much as I can be).