The three weeks I spent in London were some of the best times of my life. I had so much fun exploring, learning, and experiencing life in another country. During my program, each class featured a different guest speaker. Each of the speakers spoke about their careers and what they do in their daily lives. Hearing each of their stories showed me that there are so many different career paths I can take within speech pathology. Before going abroad, I had some knowledge of the speech pathology field, but after going abroad my knowledge has grown to a level, I didn’t think I could reach.

Traveling to a new country, completely on my own, was terrifying at first. I had never flown overseas, let alone by myself. I was nervous about getting to and from places without knowing how their public transport system worked. Luckily, they speak English in London, so I didn’t have to worry about a communication barrier. Going abroad on my own taught me a lot of responsibility. I feel like now I can do pretty much anything on my own.

I was expecting life in the United Kingdom to be very similar to life in the United States. However, while being there, I learned that life in the United Kingdom is very different from life in the United States. Though both countries speak the same language, they have different terms for things that mean the same thing. In the US, we say things like garbage, movie theater, and apartment, whereas in London they say rubbish, cinema, and flat. I thought it was really interesting how two countries who speak the same language can have different words to describe the same thing.

The time I spent abroad in London exceeded all of my expectations. It was the trip of a lifetime and definitely something I’ll never forget. Since returning home, everyone has asked me what my favorite part of my program was. To be completely honest, there isn’t a part of my program that I didn’t enjoy. Everything we did I could not have done at home. I learned so much, experienced things I never would have at home, and explored places I’ve dreamed of exploring. To anyone who is considering studying abroad, I would 100% recommend going.

Name: Lexi Cickovski
Status: Junior
Major: Communicative Sciences and Disorders
Hometown: Walled Lake, Michigan
Program: Communication Disorders in the UK