Upon arriving to the UK I was so excited to drive right in to everything! I was excited for classes, my internship, my roommates and classmates and everything in between! Unfortunately, not every aspect of this semester abroad has been as wonderful as I had expected it to be. On the bright side, my roommates have become my best friends. Living with such great people that I feel lucky to call my friends has made this semester so amazing! In addition, my classes are very enjoyable! My professors seem very knowledgeable and although some are quite unstructured, I have loved almost every class! I truly feel I have never enjoyed an economics class as much as I have love the one I am currently enrolled in. That all being said, on a much less bright (and more London like lol) note, my internship has had its challenges. During orientation we were told that the British workplace was “delightfully vague”. At first I thought that this “delightful vagueness” would mean healthy freedom to complete real work and contribute to the real function of the team. To my surprise “delightful vagueness” actually means that there is no training and I never know whether I am doing what I am supposed to be doing…
I have had to ask for guidance multiple times and spend most of my working hours hoping that I am doing what is expected of me. I feel as though this is a part of British culture that I am not a fan of and I very much so miss the more structured directions and explicit expectations that are often given in work places in the United States.
Although having to work with such little guidance has been frustrating, I feel as though I have become much better at voicing my needs to leadership. After emailing supervisors multiple times offering solutions to the frustrations I have felt, I have also become very good at coming up with solutions for problems. I am excited to use these skills when I return to the US!