If you told me earlier this year that I’d be trading the streets of College Ave for the streets of Aldwych and Holborn, I would have never believed you. Spending six weeks of my summer at the London School of Economics was a total whirlwind of experiences, balancing life between being a tourist and a student. Yes, the classes were dense, and yes, the weather was disgustingly hot, but I don’t regret one thing. I would relive it again in a heartbeat. Those six weeks completely shifted my perspective on college, travel, and the world.
I realized, Euro Summer is definitely more than a social media thing, especially when the country you’re staying in is doing well in the World Cup. Soccer is like religion to the locals there, and as England kept winning game after game, the atmosphere became livelier and livelier. The vibe was unmatched: an entire city was united when their country won; everybody shared the same mindset and joined together in happiness. It was the ultimate backdrop to my trip, giving me a front-row seat to European sports culture.Â
Along with the fun, which was definitely had, the academic weight was also very present during my time there. Let’s be real, LSE can be a bit formidable, and that definitely applied to me. I chose to do two sessions, where each was three weeks, so condensing all that material together was definitely a lot! The classes were very comprehensive, and they demanded your full attention and understanding if you wanted to do well in the course. But learning directly from professors who were top leaders and extremely accomplished in their own fields made every single lecture worth it. The caliber of teaching pushed me out of my academic comfort zone, and building direct connections with such highly educated faculty gave me a level of professional confidence I’m definitely bringing back home with me and applying to my academic intentions at Rutgers.
Hands down, the best part of LSE was the people. The summer student body is insanely international and diverse, bringing together people with completely different backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives. Making connections happened naturally, whether we were bonding over assignments or heading out together to hit every tourist attraction on our list. Every single memory with my friends is ingrained so deeply. I learned so much from everyone, connecting over shared interests and discovering the most insane coincidences between us. I truly met the most wonderful individuals, and I can’t thank LSE or London enough for the relationships it gave me. Leaving was tough; I still have withdrawals from how much I miss it, but I walked away with contacts all over the world. Having friends across multiple continents makes me want to keep traveling, and knowing I have people to visit all over the globe made the whole experience worth it.
When we weren’t in lectures or tucked away in the library, the city was ours to explore. The campus being based right in central London made it easy to step out of class and immediately drop into tourist mode. My daily routine quickly became a hunt for the best aesthetic coffee shops near campus in Holborn, grabbing bites near Covent Garden, and trying new food spots in a different neighborhood almost every night. The list of things to do, see, and eat felt completely endless, and there was never a moment when we ran out of a new corner of the city to discover. I was there for quite a while, but there is still so much more to see and look forward to when I go back, which is definitely happening soon. Between checking off every iconic landmark on my bucket list and navigating the hustle of London life, I learned to embrace and make the most of my daily schedule because I was so lucky to have this opportunity for the summer. Balancing a dense academic workload with non-stop exploring wasn’t always easy, but it taught me a level of independence and adaptability I didn’t even know I had. Looking back, taking the leap to go from Rutgers Business School to the London School of Economics was easily the best decision I could have made. It gave me the perfect mix of professional growth, big-city freedom, and memories that I will hold on to forever. If you ever get the chance to study abroad, even if it’s just a quick six-week summer sprint, take the risk and apply. It might just end up being the absolute best chapter of your entire college experience.
Thank you, London.