MY LONDON EXPERIENCE
Matt Kasenga
When I was in high school, there was an opportunity for me to go to Spain for a summer and become immersed in a culture completely different from my own. When I was given that opportunity, I turned it down because I was afraid of the language barrier and thought there was nothing to be gained from world travel. When my classmates came back from that trip, they were different. They seemed as if they had seen things that couldn’t be explained… the students had some sort of new swagger about them that they didn’t even realize they had. I couldn’t completely fathom the reasoning behind this new image that they had, but I knew that it could have only come from studying abroad. Since coming to college, I promised myself that I would never back down from a challenge. Just go out and do whatever I wanted no matter how hard it would be. Besides, the only things worth doing are never easy. So, I decided to step up to the challenge this time and study abroad in London, England.
O.K. so there was no language barrier in this country, but the culture was still very different than it is in central Indiana. The mannerisms of the people and the way they went through daily life were things that I had to get used to. I learned how to adjust to a new environment (no matter how out of the ordinary it was). I also met and became friends with people of all different cultures. I had a very close Pakistani friend who invited me back to his home (I would have gone had my parents not put up such a fight). I met people my age from all over: Poland, Iraq, Bangladesh, Norway, Russia, Spain, France, Iran, Japan, South Africa etc. I realized that despite all of the stereotypes the media might give people of a given country, in the end we all have one similarity: we are all people. I didn’t see my classmates as Polish or Iraqi, but as people. It was amazing how we all had similar beliefs, hopes, and dreams even though we were raised thousands of miles apart from one another. I would have never been able to experience this had I not been to London.
I went to Imperial College to study materials engineering while I had my stay in London. It was really a great school. I was able to compare the focus and teaching style of the Imperial materials department to that of Purdue. Classes met once a week in 3 hour sessions which was something to get used to. The work was hard at times (100% of your grade depended on one test, which stressed me out at finals time), but it wasn’t overwhelming at all. I was still able to get a full London experience and visit other countries at the same time. London has a great night life and an amazing theatre scene (probably the best in the world).
I still keep in touch with the people that I met there and am planning to visit them one last time over spring break. I really had some great memories that I know I’ll never have the chance of obtaining again. Going to London changed my life and how I look at the world and I am glad that I had the courage to step up to the challenge this time.
