CEA CAPA Education Abroad in London, England

I had a wonderful time during my fall semester in London. The CAPA staff provided fun and CHEAP activities to explore the city in a variety of different ways. The internship staff worked diligently to find me the type of placement I wanted related to my academic course of study. My housing was placed in the center of London and the CAPA staff taught us how to use the public transit which can get confusing. CAPA gave us the sense of security but did not treat us like children. CAPA professors were nice and understood that we are studying abroad (if you catch my drift) I think about London all the time and can not wait to revisit.

There are only a handful of cities in the world that have the influence, size, and beauty that London possesses. Its a gorgeous and relatively safe city for its size and diverse makeup. Living in a city like London allows you to experience things like efficient public transportation, diverse food and art, and an unprecedented social scene. A definite plus for living in London for many Americans is that they speak English, however there are so many other languages spoken as well, including French, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, etc. London truly is a cosmopolitan city. For instance a typical weekend night for me included speaking with someone from England, Italy, Bangladesh, Australia, and Latvia all within a couple of hours. And the people are really nice! 99% of the time when they find out you are an American, they are delighted to ask you questions or talk about when they visited New York City, Miami, Los Angeles etc. If you are looking for a city where you feel like you are at the center of the world, London is right for you. It was the perfect fit for me.

My experience with CAPA was nothing sort of incredible. I was housed in a safe and beautiful flat in central London and provided with multiple resources to help adjust to the new city. I can confidently say that i learned more through the classes that i enrolled in with CAPA than i have at any other educational institution. The professors not only apply classroom concepts to reality but they also take their students out of the classroom to explore and learn through practice. Though the classes weren't a piece of cake, they were more than manageable due to the teaching styles and values of the staff. Though i worried about how easy it would be to assimilate with the locals, i never had a poor experience interacting. As a matter of fact i made some of my best friends through this program. CAPA also provides resources to travel around as well as outside of the city making it easy to see everything you want to! Though i spent a fair amount of time in class, i was still able to explore London inside and out as well as travel to many other cities in Europe. After completing my semester abroad i not only have an addiction to traveling but i have also obtained many new personality traits that will help me post graduation!

My semester in London, even with its ups and downs, was my best semester ever. London was such an amazing city. I ended up staying for 10 extra days after my program ended. Even though I was there for over 3 months, I never ran out of things to do and did even get to do everything I wanted to experience.

CAPA placed us in a nice, centrally located area (although the housing situation was a bit cramped, to be expected in the UK). Because of the location, I was right in the hustle and bustle of everything and was able to easily access pretty much EVERYTHING. CAPA also conveniently provided us events to further ease of immersion and integration into the city of London including field trips and day trips. They even offered extended weekend and holiday trips to other parts of the UK and Europe.

The Staff at CAPA in London were very courteous, helpful, and all British and therefore able to give me further insights into the city that is now my second home.

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?
CAPA London is one of the most diverse, successful study abroad program as I know of, and definitely the most amazing experience in my life! It totally opened up a new world of mine in terms of career perspectives, cultural understandings, friendships, etc. People in London are the nicest and most awesome. And the things you can do there have a sky's limit. It should be something you're considering doing if you've heard about it; and if you are going, it is something you can definitely expect beyond anything else!

I have been preparing for this semester abroad for about a year; I attended several many meetings, signed countless amounts of papers, typed God-knows how many e-mails to my study abroad adviser at my home institute, and I felt like I was never going to get to England because of the amount of work I had to do just to get ready to go. But it's finally here, and I am typing up this review from my flat in New Cross, England this very minute. People have asked me how I'm enjoying myself here, and though I usually tell them that it's amazing and things like that, I really don't even think that does it justice; I'm having such a good time I'm speechless as to how much I really do love it here. In the beginning it was difficult to get settled in, what with not being fully equipped in terms of clothing, food, kitchen ware, and solving financial issues that inevitably arose, but now I feel like I'm settled in enough to focus on classes and exploring this incredible country. I haven't really experienced too much of a culture shock but there are words and habits here and there that are definitely unfamiliar to me, like which way I really should be looking when I cross the street. Otherwise, though, due to the fact that I have been preparing so long for this trip, I honestly believe I belong here right now because it's been such a goal of mine to come here to study and experience a new place on my own. It's already been so much fun and I'm meeting great new people from all over the world. I still have a lot of time left and a lot to experience, but I really do feel comfortable here, for the time being at least, and I'm enjoying it greatly. I get to go on a lot of cool trips to places including Stonehenge, Scotland, Amsterdam, Bruges, Paris, and see the amazing sights of the UK and Europe. CEA was extremely helpful and understanding in helping make this possible, and I am loving Goldsmiths College. The staff really knows their stuff and are really welcoming towards the study abroad students. This is a great experience for me already and I can't wait to dive even further in to the culture here and learn more about the area and history. I know that this is going to be a life-changing experience and I know it's going to fly by because I am only here for three months, so that's why I am, as I have already, prepared to take advantage of every experience and opportunity that comes my way; you only live once.