September 18th I said goodbye to my family at the Charleston airport and began my adventure to study abroad at The University of Hertfordshire. Saying goodbye is never easy but the moment I stepped off the plane at the Heathrow airport with my best friend Casey I knew I had made one of the best decisions of my life. We were greeted by fellow students and taken by shuttle to get settled in to our accommodation. The first week we had international student orientation and a lot of free time given to us so we could get acquainted. This week really made a difference and helped me get adjusted to not only the area, but also the culture. Honestly, I think that if more schools in the U.S. had this grace period it would benefit them positively. During this orientation week I learned that because of the type of classes I was taking I didn’t start school for another week and a half. I was also told I wouldn’t know when my classes would even take place until the Sunday night before they were supposed to begin. This was nerve-wracking to me because usually I know my schedule almost an entire semester before hand. But because of this extra time off I got to travel to London for a day and later in the week I was able to book a bus to visit my friend from home, Angel, in France. I did not get to visit much of Paris but I did get to tour a few castles and venture through Leonardo Da Vinci’s home (it was AMAZING).France was one of the most beautiful places I have been and I will most definitely be planning a trip back to France in the near future. Saturday was my last day in France and on Monday I had my first class. Even though I have only been in class for two weeks it has been a great start. It’s really interesting to hear the different perspectives of tutors (professors) from a different culture. So far living abroad has been everything I imagined and more!
4058miles 