STUDY ABROAD
In May of 2014 I participated in Hope College's Business Management May Term. Myself, 14 other students, and 2 professors spent about 3 weeks in London and then 5 days in Paris. After the program myself and 5 other students traveled on our own to Rome.Traveling to Europe had been a dream of mine since seventh grade, so I could hardly wait once I found out I had been accepted to the program. However, before I knew it I was boarding the plane for the eight hour flight to London. It was an overnight flight, but I was so excited that I couldn't sleep. Despite my exhaustion, the first day in London was incredible and I still couldn't believe I was in Europe. I could go on about how great London was for hours, but some of the highlights of my time there were:
- Hillsong Church
- Alpha non-profit
- Musicals- Matilda, Jersey Boys, and Phantom of the Opera
- Kensington Palace
- London Eye
- Stonehenge
- Food from the markets
I loved exploring London with friends; we had so much fun but also learned a lot along the way. Being in London made me much more confident in myself as I realized I could trust my instincts and do things on my own that I never thought I would. It also made me much more curious and adventerous, aspects that apply to every aspect of my life.I learned to take every chance and opportunity possible, because most of the time I won't regret it.
My time in London was incredible and I can't wait to go back, but I was thrilled to arrive in Paris. Paris quickly became my favorite place in the world, and the five days there went by way too fast. I know that I will go back to Paris some day, and I believe everyone should visit the City of Lights at least once. Some of the highlights of Paris were:
- Seeing the Eiffel Tower lit up
- Eating crepes every day
- Seine River Cruise
- Going in Notre Dame
- Seeing the Arc de Triomphe
- Locks of Love Bridge
- Bike tour
- Going up the Eiffel Tower




Image sources (from top left, clockwise)
- By Oxyman (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC BY 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons
- David Williams [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
- Student's photo
- Student's photo