Arcadia in London

The experience was a very exciting one overall. The classes were pretty relaxed, so I had ample time to explore London, England, and other European countries. However, the university was very disorganized. There were cancelled classes and we were not made aware of it and were criticized when we had questions about it. Also, there was a large paper that I had to write and was not made aware of it until the last minute, which was a bit stressful.

Arcadia provided me so knowledge, experience and fun! Through Arcadia I was able to study at the London College of Fashion, a dream of mine since starting college. The classes were challenging yet equally rewarding. During my time in London I was also able to intern with a top jewelry designer and attend charity events with the Beckhams, Eva Longoria, and various Made in Chelsea Stars- so cool! Obviously my time in London wasn't all work; I was able to attend London Fashion week, travel to various countries, see many plays, shop on Oxford Circus and the many markets and attend so many events this magical city had to offer. During my time at Arcadia I made some great friends with flat mates, students and colleagues that I am still remain close to today. An experience a could not even dream about before going!

The whole entire experience in London was a dream come true. Being able to take the Tube anywhere I wanted in the city to explore was the best way to get to know the city and the boroughs I enjoyed most. While I'm biased to my home borough of Kensington & Chelsea, places like Covent Garden and Westminster became a couple of my favorite spots to discover new pubs and social scenes.

My experience with Arcadia's London Now program was one of my best college experiences thus far. I lived in the picturesque burrow of Notting Hill, right on Hyde Park with 20 other college kids from around the world. Although that last part about the 20 kids sounds horrifying, it turned out to be one of the best parts about the trip. All 20 of us got along so well, we found that we had a difficult time doing anything without everyone present. Every weekend we went out to see a different show in London's West End and we explored the night life of the city. One of my personal favorite nights included getting free tickets to The Cripple of Inishmaan through one of Arcadia's professors and meeting Daniel Radcliffe afterwards. After the show my friends and I headed out to Piccadilly Circus for a night on the town, finished off by a ride on the London Eye, and a beautiful hour walk back to our home. My biggest problem with living in London was how much money I had to spend doing everything I wanted to do (the conversion rate at the moment is really hard to swallow). Another aspect to living in London I took issue with is the amount of drinking. The majority of my roommates were either 19 or 20 years old and from the United States. Therefore, drinking legally became the highlight of their trip and I found myself drinking more than I ever had before. Although going out legally is a lot of fun, it can get old after a while and I found that a lot of people would rather get wasted than get to know the city they were in. Having said that, with 20 roommates its always possible to find someone who wants to explore with you. I left this trip having made some wonderful life long friends and learning a substantial amount about the culture of the United Kingdom.