It is unbelievable to me that I have been here for almost a month. The past two weeks have been filled with a mix of exciting moments and frustrating struggles. The events that I’ve experienced during the past days have shown me how much I have grown and matured during my time here, despite it only being a month. I have learned how to handle challenging situations in a better way and I have also learned how to think about my actions and the consequences they will have before getting myself into any trouble.
These lessons have come to me through an unfortunate event: the loss of my transportation card. Travelling in London is extremely expensive and two weekends ago, I lost the travel card that my school had given us, which was fully loaded and set to cover all of our travel expenses for the length of our time in London. The card-replacement process took some time and while it all got sorted out, I had to pay for my journeys to and from work. This instantly put a stress on me because I was spending lots of money to get to my internship, which meant I had to start taking the bus because it was slightly cheaper. Since the bus ride to my job was nearly two hours, it also meant getting up earlier and learning how to work the sometimes-complex bus system. Losing my travel card also meant that I was discouraged from going out to do fun things because I simply didn’t want to spend so much money on travel fees. Although my situation got sorted out, I learned a thing or two about being an adult. First of all, I learned I needed to be more careful with my personal belongings. Having a fully loaded travel card is a huge privilege and losing it made me realize that I needed to pay more attention to where I placed my things. I also realized that I needed to be more careful with my spending. I had to set up a budget and I had to make myself aware of the fact that during my first few weeks in London, my spending had been a bit reckless and if I kept it up, I was going to be under severe pressure to merely get by as the end of my trip approached. Although I was worried and frustrated for a few days, I am proud to say that I emerged from this experience a more conscious and responsible adult.
Not all things were bad during these past few days. I have gotten a chance to explore the city both alone, with my roommates, and with my classmates. My schedule has included trips to the Victoria and Albert Museum, picnics in the beautiful Hyde Park, and a field study in Greenwich. Ever trip that I go on makes me fall more in love with this city. I love the wide variety of scenery in this city. I have seen vast green parks and monumental skyscrapers all in one day, which sums up what I love most about London: its diversity.