IFSA-Butler Queen Mary review!

Since returning from studying abroad, there have been a few questions I get asked a lot about how I made the most of my experience. I think this information will be more helpful to prospective study abroad students than me declaring my undying love for the city of London, so I'll just focus on the practical aspects that contributed positively to my experience.

A huge part of this was getting to know both international and domestic students. This took a bit more effort than meeting people in my IFSA program, since we had orientation together and got to know each other through that. At Queen Mary, I mostly connected with international and domestic students through our interactions living in flats on campus (and in our kitchen, where new friends helped me not fail at cooking). I loved my trips to Paris and Rome with my friends, but honestly my favorite memories abroad were simple moments with my flat mates in our kitchen. I also met British students because I was enrolled in pretty interactive theater classes, which really helped me bond with classmates. I would definitely recommend asking people to go see plays with you, since they're usually really cheap and can be an awesome way to get your feet wet in the culture (my favorite venues include the Young Vic Theater and Stratford East). If you are in any writing classes that have a workshop format, that's also been a great way that I've gotten to know people. Sharing your writing outside of class and meeting for coffee is an amazing way to make friends with similar passions/interests!

I've also been asked a lot about IFSA's staff and the kind of support they provided for us, and I can answer unequivocally that I absolutely loved my IFSA staff in London! We bonded playing hand games on the train to our Lake District trip and had really nice chats over coffee when they visited campus. They were always ready to answer our questions and give us great travel/London living tips. We felt totally supported, and looked forward to seeing staff at IFSA student events.