I began planning and researching for my summer abroad about a year in advance. I decided to go with a program that allowed me to connect with employers and secure an internship for while I was abroad as well as including housing in a central location. By August 2013 I was accepted into the program and began working on my supplemental documents for my interviews and time abroad.
I had chosen to go to London, though there were many locations I hadn’t been to before. To me London had always been this amazing city that I dreamed to live in and experience. Spending the summer there seemed like the best alternative to moving there completely with no clue what I was going to do.
January 2014 came and I landed my first interview with a London employer. It was all planned and I woke up early to prepare as it was over Skype so the time was a little odd. Since it was on Skype, I remember doing my hair and make up and putting on a nice top while still wearing my pajama bottoms and slippers. The interview ended up starting about 15 minutes late and only lasted about 10 minutes. Majority of which I spent talking to them about living in Denver and answering their questions about California. About 30 minutes after my interview I received a call from my program advisor letting me know that I had been offered the job. I was so shocked that it had happened so quickly but accepted nonetheless.
After that it became real that I was going to London for the summer and I bought my plane tickets a few weeks later. I began to meet and talk to other people in my program via Facebook and met a bunch of great people that way. Through my Facebook conversation I found two girls who I ended up requesting as my flatmates. As a person who has never travelled abroad alone it was comforting to know I had people in the same position as me and that we were getting along and had an understanding.
I completed my senior year of college, graduated, survived moving from Colorado back to California and ten days later got on a plane and headed to London. It was definitely a lot of change to my life in a few weeks that I was trying to understand and grasp. It was odd to be home and away from all my friends but I quickly learned that I needed to accept that everyones lives are going to keep moving no matter what.
The days leading up to London left me feeling scared, excited, nervous and anxious. But for any type of long term travel it is to be expected. I knew I was ready and couldn’t wait to meet everyone I had spent months talking to and ready to go live one of my dreams.
It was just the beginning of my whirlwind abroad adventure and life in the real world.
Dream. Imagine. Sammie Lauren. 