Now that my time has come to an end in London, I cannot believe it to be true. It feels like just yesterday I was boarding my flight from JFK, unsure of what would come. Now, as I leave the UK for some traveling after, it honestly feels like I’m leaving home.

When first coming to London, I had no idea what to expect. Obviously, I knew I would make new friends and enjoy my time, but I had no expectation of coming out of this program with a feeling of home. With only just six weeks, I grew such a close connection with this city. Not only did I just fall in love with the city all the tourists see, but I fell in love with the local city. For example, I fell in love with the tube system and my commute to work. Tourists may take the tube, but it’s a different experience to take it every morning at the same time. It has become such a routine where I actually see the same people each morning. Leaving this little Hammersmith & City tube world of mine is so hard to do.

There are so many more little things that were constants throughout my time here in London that I have fallen in love with. With all of these together, leaving London is nearly impossible. What is settling, though, is while visiting EY for my class, they talked about how they stress doing a two-year rotational program. Being that I hope to work at EY or another big four accounting firm, I hope to come back to live in London for two years through that program. Although it won’t be nearly the same, I know that I cannot live the rest of my life without coming back to London and living here for just a little more.

All in all, this program has been so beneficial to me and I couldn’t imagine not taking this opportunity to study abroad. Even having lived in the suburbs of London prior, coming on this program and living in the central city with a job changed my perspective on London. I lived more like a local in these six short weeks than in my two years prior and I can only thank this program for that. It is from this experience that I know I have gained much more confidence, experience, and competency skills that will carry on forward for years to come.