Semester at Wroxton College - An American Campus in England

I say this all the time: no naps! You might be exhausted from travelling and classes. But if you don't absolutely need to catch up on sleep, go on that trip, go explore with your friends, go for that bike ride. You can nap when you are back home. But studying abroad is a short time. Don't waste it snoozing away! I wish I had taken less naps when I was studying abroad. Any time wasted when studying abroad cannot be recovered. And never in your life will you have the freedom to travel to another country for a few months and basically only have to pay tuition.

I was lucky the way my schedule worked out. I only had classes Tuesday-Thursday. Classes meet for 2-3 hours every week, with another hour every other week (tutorials). At Wroxton, you will take 5 classes, and the bulk of your grade will be the final exams. Fridays-Sundays the college organizes day trips around England as well as some weekend trips to Scotland and France. These are voluntary, and you can choose to travel on your own on the weekends. In the middle of the semester there is a 12 day break, where you can travel where you want. During the week when I wasn't in class I typically spent 3 hours per class per week preparing for tutorials/writing papers. At Wroxton, there is a lot of down time to explore the Abbey/grounds with friends.

My biggest fear going into studying abroad was making friends. I was going to a school where many people knew each other, and I would know no one. I am a shy person, however I thrive in a friend group. My fears were assuaged when one of my (now) best friends Kate came up to me at the Newark Airport and introduced herself to me as well as complimented my hair. Sometimes all it takes to make a new best friend it a sweet little compliment. We immediately became our "go-to's" at Wroxton and quickly expanded our group into six. I'm so thankful to have had Kate, Olivia, Kristina, Maria, and Chris at Wroxton. Sharing your study abroad experience with such a strong friend group makes it so much more fun. And even after studying abroad is over, you still have those friends for life.

"Experiences are way more valuable then items."

You remember experiences way more than that expensive souvenir you wanted. When I was abroad, I typically chose to spend my money on experiences, i.e. going places/doing excursions, verses buying material items. I'm not saying you shouldn't buy any mementos when you are abroad, but make sure you consciously saving some money to explore the place you are at. You can probably buy that mug, that flag, and that scarf in your home country. But you can't explore the Scottish highlands, climb to the top of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, or go inside La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, in your home country.

How their time at Wroxton has had such a positive impact on their life. I think it's a fantastic experience and wish I'd been able to do something like Wroxton when I was a student. Students often say that they grow as a person whilst they're over here. And it's so nice seeing returning students as you really get to know everyone whilst they're here.

It's always sad having to wave goodbye at the end of a semester.

There are lots of day trips and weekend trips arranged for the students and I'm fortunate in that I've gone on a lot of them - Warwick Castle, Kenilworth Castle, Bath, London, the Harry Potter Studio Tour, the Cotswolds... The list is almost endless.

The students always go on a long weekend trip to Paris and a long weekend trip to Edinburgh. I haven't done those ones yet, so maybe I'll get to go on those trips one day.

Wroxton College is a fantastic place to work. It's a unique building in a beautiful setting. The first time I walked up the drive, saw the building and toured the grounds, I could tell I was somewhere special and now I'm working here. I get up in the morning and want to go to work. Not everyone can say that.

I work on my own in the library and so in that respect I don't have a team, but at the same time I do because, as we're such a small, friendly community, all the staff in the college are part of my team. We have lots of events throughout the year like the talent show, choir performances, decorating the Christmas tree and it's always good seeing everyone come together.

We have a fantastic building in a beautiful location and that certainly helps, but it's all about the people.

Provided you have good people that want to do their best and aren't just working for themselves but for the good of the whole organization, you'll succeed. The vast majority of the staff have been here for years. They don't want to leave and neither do I!