In less than 24 hours, I’ll be embarking on the trip of a lifetime, one that I’ve been looking forward to my entire life. What am I doing to prepare? Watching Penn State football of course! Never mind that my clothes that are lying on the spare room floor have yet to see in the inside of a suitcase. This is the last football game of the season, and the next time I’ll be watching the Nittany Lions I’ll have had 5 ½ months of living in one of the world’s biggest and busiest cities under my belt.

My name is Bella Fordyce, and I’m taking a break from my Penn State public relations coursework and spending my sophomore spring semester (and then some) at University College London. It’ll be the longest I’ve ever gone without visiting home back in South Elgin, Illinois, and my first time visiting the United Kingdom. I’ll be learning how to navigate a big city, how to independently travel, how to cook for myself (bye bye, campus meal plan)–all across the pond.

And I can’t wait.

It honestly doesn’t even feel real–I’ve wanted to study abroad all my life and tomorrow it’s happening, after nearly a year of preparing, seemingly endless applications and forms and a Living in London Pinterest board later. Tomorrow is the first of 160 days I’ll spend away from the US, and I look forward to sharing my experiences in London and Europe with you!

Location: South Elgin, IL, USA