Arcadia University- London Internship Program Summer

I did the summer London internship through Arcadia University the summer of 2014. I had never left the country before and was nervous about the process. One thing I remember that made me feel better about the initial flight and arrival was that Arcadia started and invited all participants to a Facebook page. From there I was actually able to find 3 people taking the same flight as me so we could meet up and arrive together. This made navigating the airport and going through customs a lot less intimidating.

The Arcadia staff provided introductory sessions to help us all understand more about what our experience in London would be like from different customs to understanding the public transportation systems.

The internship they found for me was perfect and a wonderful experience. I went 3 full days a week. I also attended a class through Arcadia that I went to once a week. I did the photography class and I am glad I did. We went on different trips to museums and different locations around the city. On the weekends, I was able to take several trips with the people I met. We traveled to Amsterdam, Paris, and Edinburgh. I was surprised how reasonable the travel costs were! I even ended up taking a week long vacation to Malta during my last week in the program.

All in all, I would highly recommend this program! The staff is wonderful, London is amazing, and you will have great experiences!

This program left me with a summer I'll never forget. This was my first real internship and the Arcadia staff worked to make sure the job would be beneficial to me and something that would help me in the future. I was able to explore London a lot during my art class (we visited a lot of museums and different historical sites) and I learned a lot in the process. The program allows you time to travel outside of London, as well, which was something I really enjoyed. I got to meet people from all over the US and was also able to interact with the locals. Overall, I would definitely recommend this program to anyone who is considering studying abroad!

When I found out in an email from my university that interning in London for a summer was a study abroad option, I jumped on that opportunity. To me, it was the perfect way to get experience in a career that I was pursuing as well as a great way to travel to a foreign country. I knew that it was going to be awesome, but I didn't think that it was going to be as awesome as it actually was. The program was set up so that we would take one course of our choice, one mandatory internship course, and intern for a company that matched our interests. Amidst all of that, Arcadia planned ahead trips for all of the students in the program to take to different cities all throughout England. All of the biggest things to see and experience in England, we experienced. It was the perfect blend of work experience, education, and culture. This experience is one that I'll never forget, and it's also one that every person I speak to about my work experience is the most fascinated by.

The most valuable part of this experience was the independence and responsibilities we were given - it was challenging, but in a great way, as I was forced to learn to adapt to a new culture and new lifestyle on my own. I did not have a positive internship experience, however. My internship required a two hour commute, it took the entire day, and I did very little. The company I interned for also did not seem interested in having me there. However, I really enjoyed getting to take trips around the country and meet new people, all while learning and challenging myself.