What our past students had to say…
“My main goal was to be independent in a foreign country and experience life in a major city. I also hoped to have classes that immersed me in the topics at hand. Both of my goals were met, as the GEO Program was not overbearing or controlling, and I had a lot of freedom to go many places on my own time and explore alone, while receiving guidance when needed. Due to this freedom, I got the full experience of living in a city. And all of the classes greatly immersed me in outer activities that bolstered the coursework, like going to the Houses of Parliament, new art galleries every week, multiple productions of Shakespeare all around London and the outer London area, and trips to places in the city that pertained to classic London literature.” Fall 2016
“I hoped to broaden my horizons while abroad. I really feel this experience has allowed me to grow as a student and as a person. I’ve gotten to live in the most diverse place I’ve ever been and travel to other countries. It has been wonderful.” Fall 2016
“I wanted to travel and see a lot of London, specifically culture like art and theatre. I think my goals were very well met. The program really loves its off-campus excursions which really aided my learning and my enjoyment of my courses and time abroad.” Spring semester 2016
“The major goal I had for this study abroad experience was to feel as though I truly lived in London and not just feeling like a tourist for three months. The main benefit for this program was the fact we would be staying with families, and another goal I had was to become very close with my family. I feel as though I achieved both of these goals by becoming comfortable with most all aspects of London life while also feeling like a part of my homestay family.” Spring semester 2016
“When I applied for this program I wanted to live, work, and study abroad. I feel like those goals were met and I have had a great experience in London.” Spring semester 2016
“I wanted to be more interested in the theatre, and I think this program was very extensive concerning theatre. We saw at least one play a week, if not more. I also wanted to familiarize myself with a foreign country, as I had never left the States when I studied abroad. I think this program gave us enough security to make us feel safe and looked after, while also giving us space to travel and explore London on our own.” Fall 2015
“One of my goals was to interact with British locals on a regular basis, which was most definitely accomplished. I think the host family experience was very important in achieving this goal. I also worked on a daily basis with local Londoners at my internship. Another goal was experience London’s diversity, which I also achieved. My host family was originally from Burma, and I interacted with many migrant populations throughout my wanderings. I also wanted to experience as much of London’s theatre culture as possible, which was very easy through my classes in the program.” Fall 2015
“I wanted to be immersed into the city, and meet new people. I did both of those, and feel like I am a local Londoner now, and have met many great people.” Fall 2015
“My primary goal was to experience London from a local’s perspective and get under the skin of the city. GEO’s program does a great job of placing students in the epicenter of it all and structuring outings in a way that acquaints one with the culture arguably better than a shorter-term solo visit. Concurrently, I wanted to apply the skills I’ve learned thus far in my major to an international context and gain insight towards how they function outside my home country. The classes I took in London allowed this to happen effortlessly by offering eye-opening perspectives and instruction from the foremost authorities in the industry.” Summer Journalism 2015
“I wanted to become more cultured – from being in London, I was able to experience a new culture outside my own and actually gain an understanding of it due to living there for 5 weeks. I wanted to travel and experience a new place – I was able to explore all of London and a few of the cities outside of it I wanted to grow as a person – due to living in a completely new place with a new people, my confidence grew. I traveled alone to a new country and was able to realize my own potential. I am a more confident, happy, and secure person because of this experience. You don’t gain something like that back home in a place you’re familiar with.” Summer Journalism 2015
“My major goals for this semester were largely being able to feel like I truly LIVE in London and to have more of an experiential learning experience throughout the semester. I have accomplished both of these to different degrees, but I found that the daily commute, working, and studying make me feel like a true Londoner. Furthermore, the excursions, the theatre visits, and just being in the city forced me to have new experiences that were very beneficial in my overall learning outcomes.” Spring semester 2015
“I wanted to feel at home in a large city like London and I wanted to learn more through experiential learning. I will be leaving in two days having accomplished both of these things. London is an amazing place that I feel not only comfortable in, but still excited and enthusiastic three months later. I was able to learn through experience and have amazing memories, new skills, and funny stories because of it.” Spring semester 2015
“I am so glad we had the excursions. I don’t know if I ever would have gone to Brighton if we hadn’t gone as a group. I would have wanted to go to Scotland, but I don’t know if I would’ve made it over there if I hadn’t gone with the group. I had been to Stratford before, but I LOVED the entire Stratford trip – it was probably my favorite. I loved being able to stay in a B&B and go to the different Shakespearean places. I truly think the excursions added to my whole experience.” Fall 2015
“We had a lot of unique opportunities that I really appreciated. Being able to go to places like Brighton and Oxford were cool in that they are places in England I might not have got to visit otherwise. It was interesting to see parts of England outside of London. The opera was also a unique experience and insight to British culture that I might not have done on my own. Our instructors always prepared us for where we were going, giving us background info on wherever we we going or what we were doing.”Fall 2015
“I would definitely recommend this program to students for its interesting classes, dedicated staff, knowledgeable
faculty, and excursion experiences.” Fall 2015
“The program was wonderful, truly a great learning experience and overall Life experience that I will forever remember
and look back on, especially when, hopefully soon, I am planning my return.” Fall 2015
“Immersing ourselves in the culture of London and going to watch numerous performances expanded my knowledge about the arts. Having guest speakers who were experts in their fields of arts journalism was very informative as well. Finally, thanks to the wonderful teachers/staff, excellent location, and amazing people on the trip, I most definitely achieved having fun in London.” Summer Communications 2012
“LOVED the excursions. It’s hard to be specific about why I loved them beyond the fact that they took us out of the city and showed us some highlights of Britain, places and things that we likely would not have done/seen of our own accord.” Spring 2012
“I can’t put into words what an amazing time I had. I learned so much from my classes and my host family. The program is outstanding and I will recommend it to other students. The excursions in and outside of London were all amazing. We got to experience almost everything guidebooks recommend you see when you travel to London as a part of our program. Wonderful!” Fall 2011
“I feel like I got to know all of England. The destinations gave us a wonderful sampling of English life outside of London. I feel so lucky to have been to all of these wonderful places. I honestly don’t think the excursions could have been better.” Fall 2011
