So many places in 1: London, Oxford, and Kingston, Jamaica

Three of the best parts of my study abroad experience were my professors, travel, and the public health experience. First all of my professors were very smart and qualified. My public health courses were taught by someone in with years of experience. My Health systems class was taught by a global health lawyer who helped the World Health Organization craft health policy. My Social welfare policy class had two professors. One was a lawyer who regularly defended underrepresented clients and was an activist for many social causes. The second professor worked at Parliament and had researched the effects of social inequalities and welfare policies in various countries. At Oxford, every week a different expert in the field of public health gave a lecture on field of study in public health such as bioethics, bias in research, or study designs. I chose to learn about a the European Union in my elective course. The professor for that course had published research multiple times on European and French political thought and was a lecturer at university of Oxford. I felt very satisfied knowing that i was learning from experienced professionals in another country.

It was my first time in London and Europe so I did what I could do, travel. I saw Stonehenge and the Roman Baths. I met students from the University of Bath. I visited Amsterdam and Paris. I got lost a few times to find a new way home because it was absolutely amazing to live in another place for three months. It was very easy to find people who were interested in the same things as myself. I saw a Champions League and an NFL football game. I pedaled a cart around downtown London with 10 other people. I had a once in lifetime experience to be a college student in another place.

Finally, I gained so much experiential lessons and public health related experience. In Jamaica, I shadowed nurses in Jamaican health clinics. I sat in on a meeting about how the nurses should respond to an increase in the number of people with measles in surrounding countries. In England, I volunteered at a patient health and social care advocacy group. I gave a presentation to a panel of young people about mental health risks that young people in their borough face. I learned how to take a lot of research and communicate it to others without confusing my audience. It was difficult doing most of it on my own because it was the first time I had ever done something like that. There were a lot of maturing experiences like learning to cook on my own and making new friends. There were times I had to figure out how to balance the new kid in a big city, but I feel stronger from the experience than I ever had before.