England: Liana Lima (My First Year of College Abroad)

My First Year of College Abroad

This program caught my eye since I’ve always loved travel and new experiences and this course allowed me to earn credits toward my degree while learning a new way of life. Moving abroad comes with a lot more adjustments and responsibilities than normal campus life. For example, I learned to grocery shop, make my own meals, and share spaces in a way much different from dorm life with meal swipes. Additionally, I’ve learned to navigate public transport on a large scale and become more comfortable commuting to places on my own. Our service learning placement challenges us to use soft skills and connect with people in the community on a one-to-one scale, diving deeper into true resident life around us. Since there are endless things to do and explore around London, this program has helped me manage my time and balance school work and life. The classes taught by UW professors also provided a challenging amount of reading and work which has prepared me for the workload back at Madison’s home campus. The mere ways of life and day-to-day interactions have challenged and changed pre-existing beliefs and have opened my mind to different ways of perceiving the world. Since I didn’t know anyone in the program prior to orientation, I was pushed to make new friends. This was an amazing experience for me since they’ve brought new points of view into my life and have made me more assured in my ability to reach out to others. These unique skills made me feel extremely independent and confident in myself and has prepared me for everything and more when returning to Madison.

Liana Lima

Major: Psychology or Communications

Hometown: Milwaukee, Wisconsin