Global May Britain

For my STEP experience I went on a study abroad trip to London called Global May Britain. I travelled throughout England for the month of May and lived in the city with 40 other Ohio State students. We took a class in the history, culture, and politics of Great Britain, and we went on excursions to places such as Westminster Abbey, Oxford University, Hampton Court, and Scotland.

When I first arrived in Great Britain, I experienced a huge culture shock. Not only had I never been to London before but I had never been to any large city before. My parents’ idea of a vacation was hiking up a mountain in some remote location in Montana, so I have yet to see New York City, Chicago, L.A., or any city larger than Columbus. I am from a very small town, and so I feel like I grew up in a bubble. I didn’t meet many different kinds of people or have a wide variety of new experiences, but London definitely changed that. The diversity in London is incredible and I had the opportunity to meet so many new people, who really opened my eyes to what else is out there in the world. Getting used to riding the tube, navigating the city, and learning to live in the flat was definitely a challenge for the first few days, and I was honestly very nervous about how the experience would go.

To my great pleasure, I found that I was able to adapt to London life with ease. This trip really helped to change my perceptions of what it is like to travel to a new place and helped me get over my fears of big cities. I think that this is the best way to learn to live in a new country, or any new place. By throwing yourself into the culture and everyday life and just working with it until it seems natural and easy, you learn the cultural norms and habits of the place that you are living in. I have wanted to travel to Great Britain my entire life, ever since I became interested in British literature and history. Being able to see the places that I had read about my whole life was absolutely incredible. I gained so much knowledge and experience from this trip, and it really changed the way that I view the world. I used to think of travelling as a big scary thing that was something I might not be able to tackle on my own. But now, I’ve discovered that I can not only have confidence while I travel, but it’s something I could do on my own, which I feel really proud of.

As I alluded to in the above paragraph, I think what helped me conquer my nerves most was the fact that I threw myself into living in London for a month and was forced to just go with it. I figured out how to navigate through the city, and it really helped that I was with other Ohio State students. Together we could learn from each other and before long, we became pros. On the first day I got hopelessly lost with two other students trying to find our way to Westminster Abbey, but after that we had a much better idea of how the tube worked and we never got that lost again. I learned that there was nothing to be afraid of- the city was full of opportunity and amazing sites.

Before this trip, I was always really uncomfortable doing things by myself. I always enjoyed having company and would never have gone off into a city to do something on my own. However while I was in London, there were always a lot of options for things to do and students were constantly going off to do different activities. This meant that there was often something that I wanted to do that no one else was interested in at the time, and so I was left to my own means. I really enjoyed being able to spend time by myself and see the parts of London and Great Britain that I wanted to. It helped me make the experience my own. One weekend I took a train by myself to Alton to see Jane Austen’s house, who has always been one of my favorite authors. It was an incredible experience and I have a lot more confidence now doing things independently.

During the duration of the trip, we went on many excursions throughout London and England. We saw fancy downtown areas, parts of the city that were rich with culture, and areas that had seen crime and poverty. Coming from a small town, I had a very limited world view but being able to travel through a foreign city really changed how I thought about other people in the world. We had the opportunity to talk with people in the neighborhoods and on the tube, and it was fascinating to hear the life stories of people who grew up miles and miles away from me. There are so many cultural differences between how people in London live versus what I’m used to, and I loved being able to see those differences in person. By seeing differences in how people live, we can gain a better understanding of the world and work together to make it a better place.

This experience was huge for me when I think about my future life. It was my first big travel experience, and it helped give me the confidence I needed to plan more trips and charge ahead into the world. I plan on becoming a nurse, and it has been my dream to do a Doctors without Borders program. I certainly will be travelling to a variety of different places for this program, and so I think it’s fantastic that I have this experience under my belt. It also was great simply because I had the opportunity to meet so many new people, and as a nurse I will constantly be meeting new people from all different walks of life. I will carry the memories of this trip and the confidence it gave me into my future endevours and I am very grateful for that.