Virginia Tech: London Study Abroad Program

This summer I spent 6 weeks in London studying English and Theatre, and doing a internship with a small, creative, start up who focus on social media. 6 weeks seems like a long time, but in reality it was incredibly short, but I tried to make the most of my short time abroad.

An average day during the first four weeks was filled with activities, some planned through my program. I saw plays like, The Book of Mormon, Antony and Cleopatra, and many others. I toured the BBC, the British Library and Museum, the Murray House (eek! They published authors like Lord Byron!). The class, of 25, also took small trips to Greenwich, Oxford, and Bath! We took walking tours of all three places, and then we're able to explore on our own, absorbing what we could of the culture and history. During those four weeks I was working twice a week, Monday and Friday and on the weekends I took trips to Brighton, Leeds, Yorkshire, and Windsor.

After four weeks, everyone went home except the 6 interns. This is when I felt I really became a local. Every morning I would walk to my office in Soho. I spent my time doing as much as I could for the company I was working with, and they place a lot of responsibility on me, which was incredible. I was beyond thankful at the opportunity to really get work experience-- rather than just sitting around feeling useless. Throughout my time there I helped plan an event where we would present a mock-up website to potential clients. I created written content for the site, wrote video scripts, filmed, and edited videos for the site, did secretarially work, such as answering calls, note taking during meetings, etc. By the time the event came around I felt like I was just another person part of this amazing company! I helped work the event, engaged with the attendees, photographed and filmed the event for our social media.

While I did spend most of my last two weeks at work, I spent my lunches trying new restaurants and street markets. My nights were spent going to more theatre shows like 1984, or at the pub with friends. My weekends were spent taking day trips. Some trips, like the one to Dover, I took alone. I walked along the cliffs, stoping to write, which as a creative writing major isn't too surprising. I talked to locals a lot as well. In Dover I met an elderly couple walking with their dog, on my way back from the lighthouse. They told me about their life there in Dover and the man told me about how he was currently working on a memoir.

Some of the girls on my trip told me I had done the most out of all of them. There was never a day spent just sitting around, and if I did spend some time lounging it was at parks, or in gardens. On my last day of work I was offered a job and on my last day in London I watched fireworks go off across the Southbank having drinks with my friends. My experience was beyond words.