My last week in London has brought many different waves of emotions. Part of me is thrilled to be reunited with family and a sense of general familiarity, but the rest of me will miss everything that living here has blessed me with.

This final week my friends and I took the time to take in the sights of London one last time and made sure to revisit some of our favorite places. We all cannot believe how quickly time has flown and feel so lucky to have had the time here that we did. After doing some shopping and walking through Hyde Park, we soaked up the feeling of being together in such a special place.

Throughout these past few months I had the wonderful opportunity to take classes at CAPA/CEA London, some being connected to my major in Marketing, and others just because they sounded interesting. Years ago when I decided I wanted to go to Pitt, I almost immediately started researching their study abroad programs. I always wanted to live in London (that dream still lives on even after my times this spring is approaching the end) and I knew that would be the city for me. I looked into a few class syllabi and thought the “Post War British Pop Culture” class would be exciting, and I am thrilled to say it ended up being my favorite class I have ever taken years down the line. Learning about subcultures, music, films, etc and connecting it to its cultural and political significances in Britain from the 1950s and on was fascinating with tons of great field studies like a scavenger hunt in Soho and a tour of Brighton.

This semester proved to be significantly academically challenging in terms of projects and papers on complex topics like Islamic feminism or the relationship between East London and religious minorities, but it also proved to be the most academically rewarding. I learned so much from all my professors, and each student I interacted with was a joy to collaborate with. I definitely learned so much more about working with others as well as having an opportunity to further develop my own critical thinking (especially from a foreign perspective).

London is one of the best cities in the entire world and I cannot express how impactful this experience has been for me and I urge anyone who is able and willing to study abroad to go for it!