The Best Semester of My Life

Studying abroad in London was so amazing - since I've been back, I've thought to myself everyday that I want just want to go back and live in London forever.

If you are interested in public/global health, this program is for you. I went into this program with no prior education in public health and I learned A LOT. There was a good mix of students who had a lot of public health experience (typically public health majors) and none at all, so any level of prior experience is ok. This specific program provides you with a pretty set schedule of three required courses (one of them which is at Oxford University), which allows for one elective class. You are also placed in service learning (sort of like an internship) at a organization in the community 8 hours a week. Overall, of these courses were very interesting and the instructors were great people. The everyday workload is minimal but I felt like there were lots of papers.

The one class at Oxford University was pretty cool - being able to walk around this campus as a student was quite an experience. My complaint about this class was that it consumed my entire Friday - we had to leave at 7:30 AM and take three trains to get there, then get back around 5PM, so it made traveling a little difficult. Additionally, the workload was too much for a study abroad class (in my opinion...weekly papers). But, I'd say it was worth it. I learned A LOT not only about public health, but I definitely improved my writing and in-class speaking skills.

London is also a great place to study abroad. The fact that people speak English was great - a lot of my friends who studied abroad in countries with different languages were pretty stressed out because they had to work hard to communicate, but that is also an amazing experience in itself. London just has so much to do all the time, there's really something for everyone...I thought that I would be too overwhelmed by the size of London, but I really wasn't. I'm not a big-city person, but London had the right amount of homeyness in its smaller communities and quirky neighborhoods, that I had an easy time getting used to it. Public transport is so efficient and the fact that I could leave the dorm and get to Big Ben or the 2012 Olympic Pool just by train and walking was amazing to me.

I would say that the past portion of this program, which takes place in Kingston, Jamaica, was the best part of the program. One of our instructors and an administrator took the entire group to Jamaica for a week, and it was absolutely amazing. The hands-on experience that I got to do in the clinics is something that I will probably never have the opportunity to do again, and it was perfectly balanced with time spent at the beach and sight-seeing. This portion of the program is something I tell my friends and family about all the time, and I can't describe in words how awe-struck I was to see and immerse myself in the Jamaican culture and health system.