.. o!4rding gave students the opportunity to study abroad during their college career . There were a vari ety of places aroun d the world students could pick from. Some students chose to live in a (6th century villa in Florence, Itaiy , some to live in Greece, but for some students the opportunity to live in London for a whole semester was too good to pass up. In fall 2009, London was the choice for junior Kallie Sween. She not only received class cr ed it for this experien ce, but also gained new inSight on other countries' cultures. Sween said she had to learn patien ce and to adjust to th e slower pace of some cu1tu~s. Sh e also said she realized how much respect she had for cleanl iness. She said to not expect the 1howers to be free o f mold o r for peop le to b e wearing de– odorant or shower very bften . "Clea nlines; seemed to 'be much less of a concern [in Europe] than in the U.S . ," Sween said " , Sween attained a new per~ective on how people overseas view the U.S. and how they seem to be more proud of their country than some Americans are of t he U.S. " ] was not very proud of being an American until I spent Thanksgivingwith mili – tary families in Brandon, UK," Sween said. " I know that it is a random thing to gain a perspective on, but I really found myselflearningthat it is OK to be proud to be an American even if you [don't agree] with everything going on within the country." As an English Secondary Education major, Sween said tha t this exp erience could fit into what she was studying. [n a way, it brought some things to life be– cause she was able to see things she was reading o r learning about. " I can read Shakespeare and think, 'yeah .. . I was at the Globe Theat re,' ' ' Sween said . Sween was able to d evelop new friendships with people tha t sh e most likely would not have grown to know if sh e had not gone to London for th e semester. The group was smaller than most overseas progr ams , whic.h gave her the oppor– tun ity to make friends with everyone on the trip. "Everyon e here has exper iences with each other tha t no other frien ds had with them," Sween said. "So we definitely h ave a lot of inside jokes and stori es togeth e r.'" The students not only gOt to exper ience life in London , but th ey also got to travel and see other great places like Dublin , Hadrian's Wall, York, Cambridge, Oxf o rd , Stratford-Upon -Avo n and Stonehenge, just to name a few. "1 think the whole thing made me realize h ow much we, in America, vi ew people, experiences, and places on such a high pedestal," Sween said. " In actu– ality, we ' re all just people. th ey' re all just places and our exper iences - good and bad - are part of who we are ." Ashel Parsons 411 the chance of a British MuseuJl\ was " k way from th e loring it. "Living a bloc a entir e semester eJ'p Id h ave spent the '-'1'1 .~.1 lifetime . I co u (~ . 9.~ Rachel J. RuPel 128 people
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