Spending 39 hours in this city my first visit was what convinced me to go again

My first ever visit to London lasted less than two days, so I could accept an award for an essay competition before heading back on a 13-hour flight back to Singapore for school the following Monday. I'd arrived at Heathrow at 3 pm on Friday and was set to head back at 6 am on Sunday. Funny enough, it was the walk through Paddington Station towards my hotel that sparked the initial idea of coming back. The bear statue was the most iconic part of the trip, even more than my award.

While I knew that going abroad for my first semester of college was a risky and ambitious choice, after spending three months there rather than 39 hours, I can confidently say that the Paddington Statue was 100% worth the cost of another plane ticket. As someone who has lived abroad in Singapore for most of my life, I found the fast-paced, unfamiliar environment of London relatively easy to adapt to. Having been there once before definitely helped with navigating the airport, but I was most keen to explore everything I'd missed during the 39 hours I was last there.

Fortunately, many of my CEA CAPA classes were tailored to exploring London's diverse neighborhoods and boroughs, often described as a cluster of individual villages rather than a cohesive city. Even though my favorite class was more focused on international relations than exploration, the opportunity to spend the day in London's free museums, cultural heritage sites, and neighborhoods, as well as the more "touristy" areas, was the most rewarding part of CEA CAPA's academic structure.

I think London is a city with something for everyone, and my classmates and I always found something to do between and after classes. As I adjust to the structure of regular campus life, my 39 hours and 3 months in London have become integral to my academic and professional ambitions.