Greenwich Beauty

This is a photo that I took while in a market in Greenwich. Greenwich is a smaller part of London that may not be seen to be the most beautiful but there are many beautiful things within it. This small market was full of different artwork, all of which were handmade and from small businesses. I enjoyed this a lot because when I wander around Piccadilly or Westminster, I mostly just see tourist items that are mass produced and do not hold as much value. In this market, there was real art pieces that time and effort were put into. I have always enjoyed seeing the amazing things that people are able to create on their own and this market really hosted that idea.

A Taste for Travel

Since beginning my journey abroad, I have become much more comfortable with traveling. If the opportunity of studying abroad presented itself again, I would take the chance in the blink of an eye. I am very interested in studying abroad in New Zealand because of appealing the landscape is but I also would not mind studying abroad in a Spanish speaking country because I plan on continuing my education of the language. My brother spent a month abroad in Costa Rica with a host family rather than through a program such as FIE and I find that way of going abroad to be very interesting. I think it would be a challenge and out of my comfort zone but hey, so was the iCharleston program. I believe that traveling provides many chances for a person to grow and learn about themselves so I personally would like to take as many opportunities to do that as possible.

Second Thoughts on Strengths

I believe that I understand my strengths more now than I had before. My strengths sit well with who I am. They are very fitting to me and I think that they will be very useful when trying to describe myself in the future, whether it be for a job interview or just to a new friend.

I think that the strength that resonates with me the most is developer. This strength essentially means that I try and either develop myself to be the best I can be or when I am close with someone, I will give them all that I have and push them to be the best that they can be. I enjoy seeing people grow and thrive and when I am able to be a part of that, it makes me very happy. I have found myself slightly doing this while on this trip by editing fellow students papers because I want to help them improve. In the past, I have given all of the help and support that I was able to give to those I was close to in hopes of them excelling to where they want to be. This type of work is just something that really makes me happy and I am able to do this without even meaning to.

The strength that is most vague and interesting to me is ideation. I find this one most unfitting to me because it mentions in the description that a person with ideation tends to enjoy knowing how machinery or programs work and I have never found myself wondering that. Honestly, now that I am thinking of it though, when I was younger, I really enjoyed the show “How it’s Made”. This show was purely just a show of how things were built and would show every step of a product or machine being built. I suppose the most I think about it, the more this fits me. However, I still think that this is an underlying feature of me that is not surfaced very often. The side of ideation that may show itself the most is the “making something out of nothing” part. By this I mean, I can take something simple that is said by someone and begin to guess an entire background story to their lives and as to why they said that. This is something I often find myself doing. Maybe ideation is more present in me than I thought, I’d like to try and start paying attention to it and figure that out.

London Elites

The reason I chose to follow through with this particular program is because I see it as a once in a lifetime chance. How many people are able to say that they were able to live in the nicest part of London for four months? Although I wanted to go to Charleston immediately, this is a very generous alternative and truthfully, I cannot complain. I believe that this program will only strengthen me and create a steady base for when I find myself back at Charleston. Even though being at college in the states is a big step for independence, being at college abroad is a huge leap. Choosing to do my first semester abroad was also choosing to throw myself into the situation of being almost completely self reliant. I know that if I was in Charleston, I would be going home for fall break and still depending on my parents to send me food when they can. Being in the UK has forced me to learn how to be more independent in a short amount of time and I truly am thankful for that. This experience will just ensure that I am prepared for my second semester. I also think that studying abroad will help me to mature due to the fact that I have to be more responsible with what I do. I am much more conscious of my actions because I am motivated to do well and make it back to Charleston. This program will honestly only strengthen me as a person.

Self Strengths

Adaptability- My initial reaction to adaptability was surprise because I have always considered myself who was not great with change. However, knowing that this is one of my traits is comforting to me and I think it will help me to be more confident as continue to become more independent. I will be facing many new situations in the next few months/years so having the trait of adaptability will be very helpful while I go through these experiences.

Developer- Being a developer can go along with adaptability in the sense that as I adapt to a situation, I will be able to come up with alternative way to handle it. In the Gallup description, it mentions that I may be the person to inspire others and have a positive outlook on things. I find this to be very true but rather than inspiring people, I just try my best to support them and push them to be who they claim they want to be. I also try to have positive outlooks on mot situations because as my mom has taught me, nothing is ever as bad as it really seems. I think this will help me in college because I have found that if you support others, they tend to support you as well and it is nice to have someone behind you. It is also helpful to look on the bright side and find the best in every situation because I know that college will get stressful but I just need to keep myself in a positive state of mind.

Ideation- Ideation essentially means that I look at a situation as a whole rather than just the part that is effecting me. It also means that I have a creative mind and enjoy knowing how things work together to make the end product. I think this all very true about me and can be helpful while in college in many different ways. This could help me with projects or even friendships as I am usually able to see the other persons point of view and take it into consideration. Another trait of ideation is that I trust my gut feeling to guide me in situations and that is a trait that I have found myself to have for as long as I can remember. Trusting my gut is just what seems right to me and I think that will help me a lot socially in college.

Strategic- Being strategic can allow for me to verbalize my thoughts much easier than some others. It also allows me to be able to see alternative solutions to tough situations. I think this is very helpful to me during college because being able to verbalize my thoughts is a skill I will need for presentations and writing papers. Also being able to find alternate solutions while keeping a level head will be helpful when things do not go as planned.

Includer- I try my best to include everyone that seems like they want to be included. In high school I was never a girl that had a lot of drama and I think my accepting nature played a huge role in that. I also have never been interested in the gossiping or materialistic ideals that often come with high school and early college years. I try my best to be who I am and stay comfortable with that, so if I am allowed to be comfortable with who I am, why can’t others be too? This is why I try my best to be as accepting to others as possible because I know it can be difficult to accept yourself.

Diana’s Roses

I chose this picture of roses that I took in Hyde Park because it is my favorite picture that I have taken here. The roses are from the Princess Diana Memorial in front of the Kensington Palace which I thought was really nice and interesting considering that there is still a memorial for her to this day. I was aware that she was well liked (loved) in the UK but I didn’t know that there would still be a memorial. I enjoy this particular picture because it is so dark surrounding and the light lays nicely along the roses, making them undeniably the focus of the picture. I am hoping to take more pictures of nature within London while I’m here for multiple reasons. The first reason being that nature is my favorite thing to photograph, and my second being that I find it to be a challenge to take pictures of nature while in the city. I think it would be fun to travel to the different parks and take pictures of a city, making it look like a rural area rather than the urban area that it is.

 

Adventures Abroad

London is full of amazing things to do and although my list could go on and on, these are my top five choices.

The first thing that I am interested in doing while in London is visiting Westminster Abbey. Truthfully, I am interested in doing this because I feel like it is something that you have to do while in London. I think that the architecture of the building is stunning and I would really enjoy seeing the inside of it as well. Since arriving in London, I have passed this building multiple times but have yet to actually visit so hopefully I will be able to get there soon.

The next place that peaks my interest is Buckingham Palace. Again, Buckingham Palace is something that you have to see when you’re in London. I know that it closes for tours very soon so I am hoping to get there ASAP. I think that the experience of being able to go into the home of the Royals would be something I could carry with me for the rest of my life. The history with the building is very interesting to me, I would love to learn more about it and see it while I still have the chance. Also…Queen Elizabeth is a G.

This is very college of me but I am really interested in the Alcotraz Bar which is a Alcatraz themed bar in London. I think that this would be fun experience especially because it is a BYOB. The guests “smuggle” their liquor into the bar and then have to “serve” their time for the crime. I think that this bar would be really fun to do for Halloween and considering that Halloween is my favorite holiday, I want to do something really fun and different that I can’t normally do in the states.

My final tourist attraction that I want to see is the Millennium Bridge. I know that it is just a bridge and not that exciting but it is still something that I am interested in doing. Also this bridge was featured in a Harry Potter movie so I think it would be fun to go somewhere that they have filmed (even though they filmed all over London).

The very last and possibly most important thing that I want to do during my time in London is visit my family. They don’t live in London but right outside and I would love to see them. Since they live in the UK, I’ve never had the chance to meet them due to my busy schedule and theirs too. My three cousins and their parents have been very gracious and invited me to stay a weekend with them and I want to take them up on that offer as soon as I can. It would also be nice to have a home cooked meal that wasn’t pasta because that is pretty much the only thing we have been making here…the freshman 15 is very real.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Learning to love London

“Sleep is for the weak” is a statement that I lived by when we first arrived in London. I spent most of my time trying to catch up on my sleep while also not spending the whole day in bed. Once we arrived, I quickly realized my goals for this semester. Prior to being here, they were mostly academic goals. Now, I hope to also make friends and maintain the relationships I create while abroad. I also had the goal of seeing as much as I can within my time here. I realized how fast this time will go by because of how much I will be packing into my trip. We are already starting week two and it feels like we have been here for two days. However, it also feels like we have been here for a month because of how many memories I have already made.

While in London, I hope to explore the city as much as possible. This program has given me the opportunity to put myself out of my comfort zone while also feeling secured and safe because I am surrounded by people who are doing the exact same program as me. Of course I hope to travel to other countries as well, but my main interest is in the city of London. There is so much that this city has to offer, I am hoping that by exploring and learning about this city, I will also be able to learn more about myself. My main goal for this program and myself is to come back to Charleston with the confidence I have been looking for most of my life. I wouldn’t consider myself an unconfident person but the thought of college was nerve wracking for me, so this program seemed like a perfect opportunity for me to follow my love of traveling while also being forced to be independent during the process. Success while being independent will definitely help me to build my confidence and that is all I could ask for.

 

The Journey Begins

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton