Submitted by Brittany DiFilippo on the 2014 winter session study abroad program in London, England sponsored by the Department of History…
My last week of being in London was absolutely amazing, and a perfect way to wrap up the incredible experience. It was a strange mix of being very sad and yet anxious to finally get home after being away for so long. Everybody had a sense of melancholy about them, multiple people explaining that they were extremely upset about the program almost being over. However, others expressed their excitement was more evident than their sadness because of how much they missed their families. I was somewhere in the middle. No matter how people were feeling though, everybody was anxious to squeeze as much into the last few days as possible. Anything that could not be accomplished so far, instantly became a priority. It was great for people to have such an urgency and such a need to make the most of the experience, and that last week was definitely the best of all.
As a class, we visited Greenwich and the Observatory early in the week and it was great! I remembered back to freshman year and learning about the observatory and the Prime Meridian, and wondering if I would ever get to go there. It was funny how everything played out and now as a junior I finally got to accomplish that, a great picture coming out of it with me straddling the line.
The best part of the week for me was our farewell lunch which took place after an interesting walk down Brick Lane. We went to an Indian restaurant with everybody on the program. It was great for everybody to hang out again and get to experience being a group for really the last time. Everybody ordered a lot of food and shared and had such a good time, and it really was an amazing way to end the program. People stayed longer than they really needed to and I looked around the table and really appreciated the people I had spent the last month with. Another great thing, and another one of my favorite things I did in London, was go to Abbey Road. I am a huge fan of the Beatles so taking that classic picture on one of the last days was awesome. I paid special attention to the wall next to road with all of the signatures, and it made me really appreciate the history of the Beatles. People from all over the world had signed that wall and it brought into perspective how much that band impacted people from everywhere. I loved being a part of that history. Overall, London was one of the best experiences of my life, and will probably remain so forever. I loved the people that I went with and the friends that I made, and Professor Montano really made it that much more incredible. I loved that he took us on our tours and cared enough to make sure we were learning. I am so happy that I was lucky enough to have this experience, and it could not have been better. I will remember this study abroad program for the rest of my life.