Philadelphia-London-Charleston
 |
| Bellvue Beach, Croatia |
I took an unorthodox approach to my first semester of college and chose to study abroad. I studied abroad through the iCharleston program that is offered. Upon first receiving my letter about iCharleston, I took it as not getting into the College of Charleston but with further research, I learned that I was going to be spending my first semester in the nicest area of London with other iCharleston students who would be traveling back to CofC with me. This made me feel less uneasy about the situation because I would have people that are in the exact same situation with me when I was abroad. After giving it some thought, I decided that iCharleston was my best choice, and I have not had a regret since the day I made that decision. While abroad, I lived in the royal borough of Kensington and Chelsea, which to this day is the prettiest part of any city that I have ever been to.
 |
| Photo from Kensington |
We spent most of our time exploring London as much as we could. We were even required to have a
travel blog to document what we were feeling and doing during our trip Our classes were not very demanding so the adjustment to classes at CofC has been...interesting. Other than exploring London, we also took advantage of the fact that we were already in Europe and traveled often on the weekends. My favorite trip that we went on was for fall break. This trip consisted of traveling to Vienna, Austria and Dubrovnik, Croatia. I think that traveling abroad my first semester truly helped me to have a more open view to the world and feel more comfortable with being on my own. We were not provided with a lot of the services that CofC gives us, such as a meal plan so I feel like I had to grow up rather quickly and learn how to live on my own. London gave me a new sense of independence that I didn't know I needed. A day will not go by that I won't miss my time in London and to everyone who is hesitant to go so far, the slight struggle is worth all of the good that comes with it.
