Now that it’s March and I am halfway through my semester at KCL, I can reflect on how nervous I was to study abroad when I was boarding my flight in January. I didn’t know anyone in my program, who my flatmates would be, or if I would like living in a city I had never been to before. Having already made the jump from Massachusetts to D.C., I did have faith in myself that I could navigate London. The scariest part was trying to predict who I would do this with. I didn’t know any of the other GW students studying at King’s before I came here, and I wasn’t given a list of who my flatmates would be. Feeling like I was without vital information, I was so relieved when I met my 8 other flatmates all moving in within the same few days as me. Our flat consists of study abroad students from all over the US, France, Canada, and Italy, and one full time King’s student. I truly could not be happier with my living situation, as some of my flatmates are also some of my closest friends in London.
One thing I wasn’t expecting was to befriend so many GW students I hadn’t known before coming here. Even though Foggy Bottom can feel small at times, there were so many people I hadn’t met yet that I have been able to get to know since coming to London. The GW orientations were so helpful for meeting fellow King’s students and even students studying at other London schools who I’ve been able to connect with over the course of the semester.
Possibly my favorite thing about London is that it doesn’t feel too different from home, but is also unique in the best ways. It is such a big city with never ending neighborhoods to explore, markets to shop in, and new food to try (whoever said London food was bad was seriously mistaken). Over the last three months I feel like I’ve seen so much but also have barely scratched the surface. Since England isn’t actually too different from the US, especially since everyone speaks English, it feels so realistic that I could live here full-time. I’m definitely already sad thinking about leaving at the end of May.
Today, March 27th, was the last day of classes for this semester. Since I’m in the Health & Society program I do have a few more class sessions at the end of our month-long Easter break, but now I have much more free time to finish up my final essays and travel around the UK and Europe. Another great thing I’ve found about London is that it’s so easy to get anywhere: within the city (on the tube) and around Europe (London has six airports). A trip I’m excited for in April is to visit my roommate from GW who’s studying in Florence, Italy!
Alyssa McNaught
Spring 2024
GW England - King’s College London Health and Society (Study Program)
Milken Institute School of Public Health
Public Health Major