1-14-19 - Final Reflections

Testing watercolors again.

I have left this post for a couple of weeks so that I am able to look back on the experience having had time at home.

It’s okay not to have a plan as soon as you leave university, sometimes things will happen that you don’t expect, and you’ll be in a job that you love but you didn’t think you would.

Your future job might have nothing to do with your degree and that’s fine! Most employers will look at the transferable skills you’ve gained by studying your degree. One person we met studied Law and now is a Director of Design.

The trip reminded me of why I am interested in teaching and has inspired me to look into it again.

People want to help you, employers/colleagues/lecturers. They’re there to assist you especially the people like the careers service. You shouldn’t feel anxious about getting in contact with them.

“This is an important topic because it is important to know about these things”

all the while you thinking

SELF & MEMORY_Assignment1

November 29: Free Day Final Picture

Sorry this is late and I still have one more post to make, but life and school got in the way big time.

Well, dear readers, it was one hell of a journey! Thank you for coming along with me!

Now that I'm back on American soil, I'd like to share some things I've learned over our two week trip:

Londoners are incredibly conscious of pedestrian traffic laws. Americans, or at least New Yorkers, are definitely not.

There is unimaginable beauty in a well-run public transportation system

Londoners treat their theatre as a part of their community, and hold it in a totally different esteem than Americans tend to. They honor it and take it more seriously than us, but they also drink in the theatre and show up from work all the time to see shows. It's a part of the fabric of their lives.

But just because a show is in London doesn't mean it's automatically good. Case in point: The Commitments.

Nobody in London seems to really idolize or villainize America nearly as much as we think they do.

Tea is a highly political thing.

You don't need a lot of money to have a good time in London.

It's important to step outside of your comfort zone and experience new things, no matter how big your comfort zone may be. You never know what you'll learn about yourself when you do!

As much as I hate to admit this, it's important to always have means of staying in contact with people. Cellular technology may be invading our lives, but you may need it more than you realize one day.

London feels so much safer than almost any other city I've been in.

It also feels more diverse than any city I've been in. Maybe it's because they welcomed non-white and non-European cultures, while "American culture" seems to push out things that feel foreign.

Studying abroad can change your life. And no, that's not just a corny thing I've been trained to say. My idea of who I am and what I want to do with my life has expanded tenfold from my projected path before this trip. To immerse oneself in another country's culture is to find new parts of oneself through said culture.

So go! Study abroad! Go to London! Or go to Prague! Be braver than I was and go to a country where you don't speak the language! See theatre, meet people, go to museums, and be present in the world outside your local community! I can't wait to see all of your adventures!

Until then, fare thee well!

I left this final reflection completely blank in my drafts folder...

seeing as my class is fully over and trip long done with i really have nothing more to add 

new name for this tumblog - Krissy's Travels.

who knows if i'll post anything more ever. maybe

This trip was amazing in so many ways and I wouldn't hesitate one second if I had the money and the chance to go back.

While we experienced a different culture and amazing vistas one of the main purpose of our trip was to learn.

At Grove City College everyone, no matter their major is required to take the class Science Faith and Technology. I wasn't particularly psyched about this prospect because I'd felt like I'd already been exposed to many of the issues and debates on the topic because I am a Biology major at a Christian college... So when this opportunity to travel for the class as well as have altered assignments (namely no paper - but hey, a blog!) I was all for it.

And while I don't think much has changed in my ultimate opinion there are many many things I got out of this class.

For one I absolutely loved one of the books that was required reading - The Language of God by Francis Collins. It was extremely well written and well thought out. Francis Collins presents ideas that I'd had at some point or another and synthesizes a perspective similar to theistic evolution called BioLogos that makes magnificent sense to me, personally. Reading those sections, there was just something that clicked for me and made my perspective feel so much more valid than it had whenever I attempted to explain it to others - evolutionist or creationist alike.

This was the only required book that I read cover to cover voluntarily (we only had to read certain sections of most books) over the past summer and thoroughly enjoyed.

It had great implications for me in this fall semester as well, as I took Advanced Genetics and Biology Contemporary topics which both touched on some aspects of evolutionary biology and in genetics we discussed the Human Genome Project - which Francis Collins was in charge of for a long time.