While I am an advocate for traveling to other countries while abroad, I highly recommend leaving amble time for exploring your host country. London is a multicultural city where numerous languages are spoken and diverse British accents can be heard. From Covent Garden to Maida Vale, Kensington to Camden, the neighborhoods of London have their own unique personalities and treasures…
Author: sgarcia@rollins.edu
Reflection on studying abroad
Admiring the artistic wonders of the Louvre, walking in the footsteps of Anne Frank in Amsterdam, standing inches away from actors on The Globe stage, and making a rewarding hike up the Acropolis to claim a stunning aerial view of Athens. These are mere snapshots of my experiences abroad, and traveling around Europe has been a dream that I…
Bittersweet last week in London
My last week in London was bittersweet; I was excited to return home and start summer break but felt sad to leave a city that has been my home for the last four months. It was especially hard to say goodbye to The Independent and the editors that I have grown close with. Fortunately, the foreign deputy editor…
Spring break in Italy and Greece
Standing underneath the dome of the Florence Cathedral, I got lost in the beauty and optical illusion―feeling humbled by its scale and craftsmanship. Learning about the renaissance movement in a classroom falls pale in comparison to actually seeing such grand architecture in the flesh. My third month abroad kicked off with a spring break trip to Italy and…
Third month interning at The Independent
March was an exciting month at Northcliffe House—aka my internship site. Firstly, the newsroom was buzzing with gossip about a guest visitor; that guest happened to be a member of British royalty and none other than Prince Charles himself. Editors at The Independent were unmoved by the royal visit and boasted that they were “too Republican”…
International bylines and studying at CAPA
I want to dedicate a post to my internship—since that was my motivation for choosing the CAPA London program. While the program does not offer classes at a British university, I still manage to experience culture shock when commuting on the Tube or interacting with my colleagues in the newsroom. Though two of my professors are British, my…
Traveling outside of London
I have been venturing outside of London for the past few weekends; exploring the UK and Europe has been an absolute joy. I took a day-trip to Oxford on Saturday and toured the iconic Christ Church with some fellow exchange students. The previous weekend I went on a weekend trip to Paris with CAPA; it is…
Video: You’ve got to love London
During my first week in London, my uncle accompanied me and captured our sightseeing shenanigans on camera. The video is a short snippet of the beautiful city of London and its iconic landmarks. Enjoy your virtual visit across the pond and kudos to my uncle for being such a talented cinematographer. Song: Florence & the Machine –…
First week in London
I have lived in London for 10 glorious days, but numerous adventures have occurred in that short amount of time. I arrived two days before check-in with my uncle to sight-see and get my bearings on navigating the city . Though we pride ourselves on being New Yorkers and subway connoisseurs , my uncle and…
Meet Stephanie Garcia – CAPA Blogger Spring 2015
After weeks of tracking, the long-awaited package officially arrived at my front door. I could not contain my excitement; I ripped open the seal and shook the envelope to uncover its contents. I grasped my passport and flipped frantically through the pages to get a first glimpse of my student visa. The final ingredient to…