I can’t believe that two weeks ago, I was lugging my 60lb suitcase up my flat’s five flights of stairs. My cab had just dropped me off, I received my keys at reception, and I began my first day of 180 in London. Since then the time has flown by, but at the same time I feel as though I’ve been here for months. I’ve made a great group of friends (including some fellow Penn Staters!), enrolled in classes at UCL (which was in no way a simple endeavor), and have been surviving without a meal plan (!) for the first time ever.

I live in Bloomsbury in the borough of Camden, which has long been the academic hub of London (you may have heard of the famous Bloomsbury Group, which included British intellectuals like Virginia Woolf and John Maynard Keynes). It’s a great area within itself, but it only takes a few minutes on the tube to reach popular tourist stomping grounds like Piccadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace, and Soho.

University College London

University in England is more different from Penn State than I ever could’ve imagined. For one, British uni students only go for three years, and gen eds are a foreign concept all together. They’ve come into college knowing what they’re going to study, and then are given their classes (no waiting lists at all). The biggest difference, by far, is the level of independence that it expected of students. For most classes, you’re given a reading list of an average of 60 titles (including articles, books, and full textbooks) that you’re expected to read–there’s no homework or reading quizzes, but essentially how well you do on your assessments is tied to how widely read you are. My entire course grade (depending on which class) is based either on two 2,500 word essays or a single two-hour exam in May. For what will transfer as 16 US credits, I only have eight hours of class a week (and no class Fridays!), and I get a no-class “reading week” in February and four week break in March/April before exams (but after this break I also do not have any more class!). Ultimately, I haven’t decided if this way of operating stresses me out more or less than at PSU, but it definitely allows for time to travel around England and Europe. Because I have so much free time during the week to do schoolwork, I can fill my weekends and breaks with trips–and I’ve got quite a few on deck (stay tuned!)

Tower Bridge

So far it’s been nothing but a dream, and I have a harder time thinking about leaving London than I do missing America. I’m extremely grateful to my parents for supporting me while I’m on this crazy adventure of a lifetime, and it’s crazy to think that the next time I’ll be in America I’ll have lived abroad for almost half a year.

I want to take advantage of everything the city has to offer, because this will be the only time I’ll ever be able to live as centrally in London as I do now. I want to take advantage of everything that Europe has to offer, because I could never book a week vacation to Scotland from the US for less than $150. I want to take advantage of this adventure that I’ve literally been waiting my whole life for, and I want to be able to look back and say that I went to bed every night absolutely exhausted.

Cheers!

Location: WC1X 0HD