Traveling to London has always been a dream of mine, that I never thought would come true. I know that this opportunity is once in a lifetime and I will have to face challenges that take me out of my comfort zone.
Coming from someone who has lived in a sort of bubble, surrounded by family, friends, and colleagues for the past three years at Rollins, I never thought I would have an opportunity like this. From the beginning of my college career, I can remember someone stating that “it wasn’t a question of ‘if I am going to study abroad’, it was more of a ‘when will I study abroad’” but I never thought I’d actually go through with it. When I began looking into different programs and seeing what matched my interests, CAPA London inspired me to investigate further. I quickly realized the opportunity was too good to pass up. Though this has been one of the hardest decisions of my life, I wanted to challenge myself to break out my comfort zone and adapt to a whole new culture. Most importantly, to learn how to be independent and start figuring out exactly what I want to do after college.
Before applying for this study abroad, I never thought deeply about what makes up who I am or how I could describe myself to others. All of my life, I have lived in Florida and hardly traveled outside of the state. This closes me off from seeing a variety of perspectives, though this also inspires me to ask questions and interact with people who live differently than I do.
I foreshadow interacting with fellow classmates and U.K. citizens that have opposing and similar identities to mine. I expect to be asked about my political beliefs and my thoughts on their current political debate. I have been briefed on how the people of London are much more reserved and how Tube travel is silent. Though even with these helpful insights, I expect to experience some sort of culture shock and will adapt to learning new things about my environment.
Shocking to think in about a week, I’m hopping on my first flight to what seems to be the other side of the world. I’m so thrilled to have this opportunity to grow and learn in a whole new city.