Tuesday, May 27, 2014

36 days…. But who’s counting!

It’s hard to believe that in just over a month I leave for a trip that I have been working towards for a year now. At times it doesn't seem real but at others it seems pretty overwhelming. Overall, I can’t begin to describe how excited I am to go.


To start, let me tell you a little about myself and my journey with study abroad. My name is Emily Stoddard, and I am 21 years old.  I am currently a senior at Central Michigan University, majoring in Math for Secondary Education and minoring in English. I have always been a traveler at heart but I have never acted upon the dreams that I had. One of my biggest dreams was to go to London and the United Kingdom. So when I got to CMU, I accompanied my best friend to a study abroad fair. That is where my study abroad journey began. At the fair, I looked into a few different programs but in my heart I knew that I wanted to go to the UK. So I did a little research and I came across Kingston University. I knew that I would not be able to go for a whole semester or year because it just would not work with my schedule. Therefore, when I found out they had a month long summer program I was beyond thrilled. From there I started the process by meeting with my wonderful adviser and getting all the information I needed to apply to my program.

Hence this summer, I am studying at Kingston University, in Kingston Upon Thames in the United Kingdom. To give you an idea of where that is located, from what I have researched, it is about 20 minutes outside of London. I will be at Kingston for about a month 
(July 2- August 3) for their summer program. While I am there, I will be taking 2 classes which total to 6 credits. I will be living in one of the dorms on campus at the University. I will be doing future posts on the classes and the accommodations (including pictures) when I arrive at Kingston. 


Although I am sad to leave my family and friends, I am extremely excited for the new memories that I am about to make. I cannot wait for the amazing adventure that I am about to embark on this summer.