By agoudsward
This week, as most of my friends packed up and headed back to school, it suddenly started to seem real that I was about to do something very different. It was no longer a dream or a vision, in a few weeks I would actually be living in London. Choosing to study abroad wasn't an easy decision for me. Even though it was always something I knew I wanted to make part of my college experience, last spring, the end of my sophomore year, I finally began to feel like I found my place at GW. For a few weeks I agonized over whether I wanted to leave my friends, Washington D.C. and taking classes in my major. In the end, the pull of experiencing something new was too strong. I knew I might never get a chance to live abroad again in my life.
Still, this week was a bit of a strange experience for me. Saying goodbye to friends and summer while I'm still at home was a little unsettling. With still three weeks to go before for I start my program at the University College London, I have a strange extension to my summer. While the fall semester begins for pretty much everyone else I know, I'm left wondering about the experience that awaits me.
As a kid from New Jersey whose only experience outside the county has been a week-long vacation to Canada, I'm beyond excited to have the chance to study in London for three months. Still, so much remains unknown. Will UCL resemble my experience at GW? What kinds of students will I be living with? How different will daily life be in London compared to D.C.?
I had a similar feeling before moving to GW for the first time and while I loved living in D.C. and many of my classes, I had a difficult time feeling like I belonged for much of my freshmen year. It took longer than I hoped for me to feel at home at school. I'm thrilled to be going to London in a few weeks, but I can only hope I'll feel a sense of home across the pond.