Visiting Across the Pond

Guest Post By: Rosa Arango-Lopez, a Junior studying Finance and Marketing. She is a Global Business Center Study Abroad Scholarship Recipient, and she studied abroad through a Foster Exploration Seminar in London, England, during Early Fall Start 2023.

Going on a study abroad trip with the global business center has been amazing. I was a part of the Early Fall Start Business Britain program. We spent 3 and a half weeks visiting different cultural and company sites all over the London area. I went with 20 other UW students which made it more exciting. We stayed at the London School of Economics Bankside dorms. The area that we stayed in was so nice. We had so many restaurants and shops all around us. The Tate Modern Museum was right across from where we are staying, and the Thames River was also in front of us. I got around by either walking or taking the bus or tube. The first couple of day was a bit overwhelming and tiring but after some time I felt like a local. 

We had a mix of company and cultural visits each day. We visited companies such as 3D print UK, Softbank, Microsoft, Amazon, and Starbucks. We also had opportunities to visit government departments such as the Department of Business and Trade. Being able to network with professionals was insightful and gave us a great way to get advice. It was interesting to see the companies that are from Seattle in a setting and how different they work when it comes to the global market.  

We went to see so many museums and exhibits. The amount of walking that I did was crazy. Every time I would go to bed, I would fall sleep so fast because I was so tired although it was so worth it. We didn’t just stay in London, but towns explore outside of it as well. We took the train to Cambridge which was only about an hour away. On the ride there, we got to see the English countryside and the beautiful nature of the country. Cambridge was so beautiful. We got a tour of some of the colleges that make up the university such as Emmanuel College and Kings College. It was awesome learning about the history of not just the colleges but also the town itself. We then went on a punting boat ride which was so peaceful. We got see the colleges that were along the canal and the beautiful architecture of the buildings. 

Overall, it was such an amazing experience. I have never traveled on that side of the world before and I’m the first in my family to study abroad, so it was a very surreal moment. I was surrounded by people from all over the world and learned so much from other people around me.