A Day in the Life: Abroad in London
Study abroad application deadlines are approaching and we hope our insight we’ve provided on each city has made your decision easier than it was before! Our final edition of “A Day in the Life: Abroad in…” is here and we are so excited to share it with you.
Ainsley Marshall was thrilled to get back in action with The Edge with this exclusive interview. Ainsley Marshall works with The Edge’s fashion team and is a junior at Elon University. She is currently studying in London at The Foundation of International Education.
The Edge: How did you begin your search for choosing which city/country you would apply to?
Ainsley Marshall: My sister studied abroad in London two years ago which was around the time I started to think about where I wanted to study. She studied at UCL and spoke highly of the culture and people. When it came closer to application time I used the Elon Global Education Center website to search for the London programs. I found the main program Elon partners with, the Foundation of International Education, and did a little research on it. I went forward with applying to the program because of the internship opportunity. I definitely liked the idea of engaging in an international workplace.
E: How has it been studying in a city that speaks your native language?
AM: Good! Going to a city that speaks my native language was not going to make or break my decision of where to study abroad. However, I very much appreciate that I can communicate and immerse myself in the community around me. It’s also incredibly interesting that English is the main language but that there's a lot of different phrases, words, and overall ways of speaking than in the US. It’s always a funny topic of conversation with those from the UK. I was in line at the bathroom of a pub one day and someone asked me if I was “in the queue.” I had no idea what they meant at first and told them I was in the line for the bathroom. So there are constantly situations like that where you learn some of the different ways of speaking.
E: How are your school campus and its classes different from Elon’s?
AM: In some ways, it feels similar because there’s a small community of students and teachers here —all the students live in dorms together and class sizes are small. There are some differences in classes themselves, for example, most of mine are more essay and presentation-based rather than test-based. Like at Elon, all the teachers have different personalities and teaching styles. Since we have the internship for the second half of our time here, a lot of our classes are only 6 weeks long, for 3 hours, twice a week. Which makes them fast-paced at times and calls for long days in the classroom. However, the January Term at Elon prepared me well for this.
Although there are some similarities, being in a large city in Europe there are definitely more differences. On our walk to class, it’s interesting to see little kids going to school, and adults going to work. There’s a school community feel around but a lot more going on between. We also frequently have field trips which are amazing for seeing parts of London we may not typically see ourselves. To get to them we typically take the tube or sometimes the bus. After class hours, there’s so much to do in London it can be hard to hunker down and do homework. But I love that there are so many coffee shops around to sit and do my work. Overall, the campus life has a good layer of comfort but I am still experiencing and learning more every day.
E: Tell us about your internship experience.
AM: As I mentioned before, the internship is only the second half of the semester here, so it’s beginning this week. Overall, the process leading up to it went as expected. In May (about 4 months before the start day of the program) I submitted my resume, three areas I’d like my internship to be in, and some other questions. The Foundation of International Education website has a lot of information on different internship areas you can apply for and what those typical internships consist of. I believe I put down Fashion, PR, and Marketing as my areas of interest. I spent a lot of time reading the descriptions on the website which made it easy to make my decisions and fill out the rest of the application. There was a lot of anticipation going forward, as we did not hear what internship we got placed in till the middle of October. I got my placement on October 11th for Barbara Harris Water Jewelers and then had my interview on October 14th. This was right before finals so it was a little stressful but FIE gave us lots of information on our placements and the interview was casual. Regarding my placement, it's exactly what I applied for and am looking forward to starting. My main task will be coordinating the social media but I will also be helping with market research, ideas for promoting the company at in-store events, data inputting and mail-outs, inventory management, and supporting the team on the gallery floor.
E: What is your favorite part of your morning and evening routine?
AM: On weekdays most of my mornings aren’t too productive with early morning classes from 9-12, but on the way to class I like to stop at my favorite coffee shop chain, Gails. When I don’t have morning classes I love to try new workout classes. Going to classes in different parts of London is my favorite way to discover new areas and be around different people. Recently, I went to a Barry’s Bootcamp class and it brought me to a hidden little square that had the gym and restaurants. It’s such a quaint and cute area that I would’ve never known about if I hadn’t signed up for the class. However, sometimes it can get pricey to do classes, so some mornings, I will run in Hyde Park. I am so grateful the FIE dorms are only a 10-minute walk from the park as there’s so much inside to explore.
My favorite way to end a weekday night is to cook in our apartment with all my roommates, and then grab a drink or two at a pub. Pubs are truly a huge part of the culture here, most nights they are crawling with customers that come straight from work. And on weekends I love to try new restaurants—I love that London does all cuisines well, I am always trying something different.
E: Through your weekend travels, have you visited a city that you wished you had studied there?
AM: The one worry I had before coming was the weather. I always feel happier and more productive in warm weather and am definitely jealous of the Barcelona students who do have warmer weather. But the more I have traveled, the more I know I made the right decision for myself. London has not rained as much as I expected and there are upsides to the colder weather. Being at Elon University for the last 2 years I haven’t bought any new sweaters or a lot of winter clothes. I have really been enjoying styling fall and winter outfits here and paying attention to the different fashion trends. I am also looking forward to the winter and Christmas activities coming up in London such as ice skating. Weather aside, London has been the perfect mixture of culture, education, fun and I can’t imagine being anywhere else.
We hope this interview helped you take one step closer to finding where you are going to spend your dream semester! Tag us @theedgemag to keep us updated on your abroad experiences!