Show lL HH r The Midnight Revelation that Led Me tO L London By Sadie Moore I stumbled into the London Theater study abroad program quite by chance I was at a bit of a standstill in my life and had been scratching my head as to how to get myself back on track Unable to sleep one night I was surfing the web when my mind randomly drifted to a friend who was planning to go on a summer study abroad program in Chile and I thought how much fun that would be for her I had studied abroad twice before once for a semester in Japan and once on the British Studies summer program in London and I had enjoyed myself immensely both times My brain whirred into motion and the first whispers of an idea began to formulate in my mind I went to the International Center and started clicking around Studying abroad would be great but where to go Then the the to words of a friend echoed in my head He had said that the London Theater study abroad program was one of the best experiences he had ever had and that he had done the program twice because he loved it 50 so much Things suddenly seemed quite clear and at the stroke of twelve I had my Aha moment I needed direction inspiration and excitement I needed to meet new people who I could bond with over overa a common love of learning and traveling g. g I needed a change of scenery scenery scenery ery and an adventure to get some new perspective on my life Studying Studying Study Study- ing abroad had done those things for me before so why shouldn't it do it for me again I downloaded the application that night and handed it in 2 days later just before the deadline I was certain that studying abroad would give me everything I was looking for and I Iwas Iwas Iwas was certainly right I went to my first orientation meeting feeling a little nervous nervous nervous ner ner- because I wasn't a theater major just an English major who enjoyed enjoyed enjoyed en en- joyed the theater and I figured that most of the other students would already know each other and the teachers and I might feel left out As soon as I poked my head in the door though I l was instantly greeted by Tim Slover and Jane England the professor and organizers of the trip who enthusiastically told me that they were glad I had decided to come on the trip These two wonderful people endeared themselves to tome tome tome me instantly with their genuine kindness and their fantastic senses of humor I got the feeling right away that they would be more to us than just the leaders of our program and that they would mean a great deal dealto to all of us by the end of the trip I had a really good feeling about the other students in hi the group too They seemed to be a lively and friendly bunch The real test came when we gathered in London for the first time most of us fresh off a plane and groggy from our travels and we let Tim herd our tired bodies bodies bodies bod bod- ies around on a walking tour of London with the purpose of introducing introducing introducing ing us to the city and preventing us from napping and throwing our body clocks off even further As we walked around together that day our energy was low but our spirits were high and we quickly bonded over our collective excitement and our awe of the beautiful madness that is London From then on out it was one wonderful surprise after another We discovered that we would be living in a beautiful and spacious apartment right across the street from Kensington Gardens a magnificent park that houses one of the palaces of the Royal family We had an endless amount of fun exploring the city and familiarizing ourselves with the bus and subway systems We discovered that Tim and Jane had infinite knowledge of the city of London and through their expert guidance we explored every nook and cranny of the city We even took a two day side trip to see Warwick Castle and Stratford- Stratford upon-Avon upon where we explored Shakespeare's hometown and saw two of his plays in a historic setting Not surprisingly the theater was the highlight of the trip The first play we saw was a production of Richard II by the Royal Shakespeare Company and we were blown away by how breathtakingly beautiful the performance was I for one one did not realize that theater could have such a profound effect on me and I thoroughly enjoyed the range of strong emotions that I experienced throughout the 13 plays we e saw as asa asa asa a group We enjoyed some rousing discussions of those plays in our classes where Tim taught us how to critique a play without criticizing it We all came carne home greatly inspired by what we had seen whether we were actors or designers or just lovers of the genre I came home from this journey with everything that I had set out to achieve I came home having made a bunch of stew new friends not just with my wonderful roommates and classmates but with Tim and Jane as well I came home feeling and ready to take on the world I also came home feeling incredibly inspired by my whole artistic experience in London and feeling ready to finish my English Creative Writing degree with new vim and vigor I feel like I have a greater sense of what's going on in the world right now and what my place is in it I found the direction I was looking for and found my way into a job at the Study Abroad office at the University o of Utah which is the best job in the world for me right now Studying abroad in London changed my life and opened many doors for me I would recommend this program to everyone because not only would the vibrant city and incredible theater inspire them and change the way they see the world but they would meet some wonderful new friends and would be guided through the experience by Tim and Jane two wholly remarkable people who I am luck lucky to call my friends I will always be grateful for my 12 AM moment of revelation and will make sure to trust any Aha moments that I have in the future because Ive I've seen that a split second decision in hi the middle of the night can lead to some pretty marvelous experiences |