Natalie Pratt

When I was a senior in high school I decided that I wanted to study abroad the summer after my freshman year. When it came to deciding where, the London School of Economics' summer program had the best timing and classes suiting my needs. I also wanted to be in an English speaking country since it was my first time abroad. The city of London was also intrinsically interesting to me and I knew I would enjoy it after hearing so much about it.

Being in London during the world cup was a really cool thing to experience. Even though England didn't make it to the finals, it was incredible to be in a pub during the games and unlike anything I have experienced at home. Also the international quality of the city and the people who visit/live there is extremely interesting and makes it unlike any city I have been to.

I got really sick when I was there. I was living alone in my single and all the friends I had made lived about a 30 minute walk away so I didn't really want to ask for help, and the school does not have a medical center. The UC reps were not helpful about the situation and I had to miss class right before my midterm. I ended up going to the pharmacy and consulting with a pharmacist and he gave me medicine that helped. (Pharmacists there can give medicine without a doctor prescribing it, different than the US).

I would wake up and get coffee or go to a cool new breakfast spot depending on what time I had class. The walk from my dorm to class was roughly 30 minutes. (I had class 4.5 hours every day). In the break between classes I would usually walk around with the friends that I made there and we would get lunch. After a 3 hour lecture I would usually go back to my room and then figure out if I should tube to Chelsea to see my friend there, go out to dinner, go to a pub if there was a game going on, go shopping, get dinner, or even just walk around the city. This changed depending on the day.

I took Marketing and Consumer Behavior. The classes have a lot of content that piles up pretty quickly. The Marketing class was similar to a class at Berkeley except it had one final and it was very easy if you listened and went to lecture. Consumer Behavior was a lot harder. Graded very harshly and the midterm and finals were very similar to exams at Berkeley, except the grading scale in London is much less forgiving. This class also had one essay. The biggest difference between London and here was the way they give instructions is very vague and I was never exactly sure what was expected of me.

The most memorable aspect was the city of London itself. London has SO much going on all the time, a huge population and a very large number of tourists during the summer. I loved the city and now that I'm home the city itself is the most memorable thing for me and I miss it a lot. It was also really meaningful for me how much it connected me with people from all aspects of my life. A lot of distant friends were there and it was really fun to see people from home while I was there and bonding with unexpected people over this.

Studying abroad made me much more independent and better at handling "curve balls" in life. Traveling to London was a huge fiasco with delays and airlines, and once I was there I also dealt with a lot of unexpected events. From knowing how to navigate the tube, dealing with huge protests, parades, and even bike races that closed down parts of the city, I became much more tolerant and quick to think. It also forced me to break out of my shell because I had to make new friends or else I would have been completely alone there.

You have to talk to other people in the program and make new friends, it makes the experience so much better. Also, Berkeley makes students take the classes for a grade and a lot of students from other schools are just there for fun, so don't get sucked into that. Take classes that you actually want to take. Explore the city as much as possible.