‘Ello, Gov’na!; Studying in London

When I give campus tours, I do my best to avoid spouting facts and figures unless specifically asked. But my favorite one to share is that 70% of Carleton students will participate in at least one OCS, or Off-Campus Study, program by the time they graduate. 70% is a big chunk of the campus population! And, the icing on top of the cake, is that your Carleton financial aid package follows you to any Carleton study abroad program of your choosing (and one non-Carleton program, too!). I love the part of campus tours when we walk past Leighton Hall because the OCS office is located in that building, and then for several minutes, I get to talk about the study abroad I participated in this past Spring!

How I Chose my Program

Carleton offers about twenty different OCS programs per year. I can be an indecisive individual at times, and I thought narrowing down my list to only one or two programs would be impossible! My first decision was whether I wanted my program to be immersive in not just a different location, but a different language, too. While I loved taking French at Carleton to fulfill my foreign language requirement, I also knew that I would have a less enjoyable experience if I could only speak in French while abroad, and in my classes, too; tragically, it is a bit of a struggle for me! I then had to decide what I wanted to study, and where. Although I knew at this point that I would be declaring a major in English, I didn’t want to limit myself to just English programs if another one stood out to me. Thankfully, I eventually settled on what couldn’t have been a more perfect program for me: Living London: Writing City, Creating Self. An added perk of Carleton OCS programs is that at least one Carleton professor will travel with you and teach at least one of your classes; Greg Hewett, one of my favorite English professors, was going to lead this program! It could not have been more perfect. After submitting my application and completing an interview, within a couple of weeks, I found out that I had been accepted. Yay!

Program Highlights

It is impossible to say what my absolute favorite part of studying in London was, but one of them was getting to make new friends! I knew some of the Carls on my program before being in London, but I got to meet new people and experience living in a new place for ten weeks with them! I want to give a special shout-out to the lovely ladies of 12E, aka my roommates; I will say that I was not initially excited to be living in a quad, but we cohabitated pretty well, and our group chat is still pretty active (I miss you gals!) 

As a self-proclaimed theater kid, I was so thrilled that one of the classes we took was a theater class, and we saw at least two productions per week. PER WEEK! Not only that but with our cultural fund, I was able to purchase tickets to additional shows to see with my friends, like Hadestown and Heathers; I also got to see Tom Holland in Romeo and Juliet! My favorite theater experience, though, would probably be meeting Louisa Harland at the stage door for A Long Day’s Journey Into Night, because she also stars in one of my favorite shows, Derry Girls! Seeing such a variety of shows and traveling to so many different theaters, including Shakespeare’s Globe, was such an incredible experience, one that I already miss. 

My last OCS highlight is how easy it was to travel. While initially daunting, the tube became my new best friend, and I surprised myself with how quickly I was able to navigate it by myself (I say this as someone who spends a lot of time in NYC and still has yet to master the subway). Although I am not as big of a fan of the bus, it was always fun to go with a group to a restaurant or that night’s theater. Not only that, but I was able to travel to Scotland, Ireland, and France during the program, and still make it to all my classes! Speaking of buses, do NOT take the bus from London to Paris. Just trust me on this. As much as I love Northfield, London definitely ranks supreme when it comes to public transportation. 

I encourage anybody with the opportunity to study abroad to do it! Not only did we get to visit so many fascinating historical sites and museums, but we also had several local writers speak to our creative writing class about their careers and work. The 10 weeks go by fast, but they will be the best 10 weeks of your life, and you will not regret it!

If Holly (she/her/hers) was a place on campus, she would be the bench in the upper arb that overlooks Bell Field. During the school year, Holly “slays” on the dance floor as the director of the Synchrony II dance troupe, is a member of Project Friendship, a theater stage manager, and works in the Alumni Relations Office! A fun fact about her is that she has triple citizenship with the US, UK, and Ireland.