By Megan Ruge, Staff Writer
Before I woke up on Jan. 14, I dreamt that I had just moved back in to start another semester at Susquehanna and was preparing for class.
When my roommate opened the hotel room curtains, I woke to remember that I would not be returning to Selinsgrove this semester and that I was in London for 20 weeks.
On our way to our host university, we fantasized about the school. “Would there be a welcoming committee? Would we have help with our bags?”
These questions swirled around in our heads but when we arrived, our dreams were shattered in a matter of seconds. There was no one there to greet us and there wasn’t school spirit.
As the week went on, my roommate and I fell in love with London. We walked in the footsteps of legends, but the longer we were here the more we saw the university’s short comings. We wanted to resume our gym schedule and maybe get a flu shot, but the school doesn’t have a gym or health services.
After talking to many full-time students, we learned that the school used to have these facilities.
Our frustrations grew as we had trouble with our class schedules and just the inconvenience of life. We thought that being in a city would be easier, but it seemed like no one wanted to help you find the stores you needed.
We were tired, hungry and irritable to say the least. We missed Wal-Mart, Benny’s and my boyfriend’s car.
Susquehanna not only provides us with accommodation, they give us accessible food, many opportunities for involvement and the convenience of Selinsgrove, a place that has a little bit of all the necessities.
Though my experience here has made me extremely homesick, I couldn’t imagine a better place to be. London is a unique and wonderful city. Receiving this opportunity has given me the motivation to make positive changes in my life. I cut off a foot of my hair, began to exercise and took public transportation by myself, all things I never considered before.
I’m truly on my own and that can only cause positive change. I have always been the person with so many things to do, but I have given myself a freedom I didn’t know I needed.
The idea of a semester abroad was absolutely terrifying, but it was the push I needed to start seeing farther than the end of my nose. I need to be more independent, I need to try new things and I need to be more grateful what I’ve been given.
Though there isn’t much to report after three weeks, I can say that I am grateful for Susquehanna and for the things they do for us, but most of all I am grateful this opportunity and I plan to take advantage of it.
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