INTRODUCTION

       I can credit my love for London to my church youth choir director, who took us on the “John Wesley Tour” as part of the choir's 50th anniversary. The trip was jam packed with churches, museums, monuments, and not much of the super touristy stuff you see in the movies, but despite this, I absolutely loved the city. It became my favorite stop on the trip, with the people and places (not so much the food). So there's the answer. I felt like London was the perfect place to meet new people and see new things all without a huge language barrier, until you hear proper English that is (very different from American English, I'll tell you).

       Let's jump back to August of 2020. Covid-19 was still at a high, and I started my senior year on a computer. I never made it back to the classroom until February of 2021, and even then, it was only to attend the select few classes I actually enjoyed. I could easily estimate that I attended only about 15 classes in person my entire senior year of high school. Easy to say, I was ready to get out of there and start a new chapter of my life. We were expected to have started the search for colleges over the summer and to have a list of where you wanted to apply by the time you met with your advisor. I did not have this list. I had no idea where I wanted to go, or what I wanted to do. The only thing I knew was that I didn't want to go somewhere where a lot of other people were going. The huge SEC schools didn't appeal to me much, but I still applied to the University of Tennessee, Auburn University and The University of Alabama. Adding to that list, I also applied to Kennesaw State University and Mercer University. I was accepted into all of these schools, but none of them felt like the right fit for me.

       My mom is always telling me to get off my phone and “that tik tok app”, but that little clock app actually gave me inspiration that has now shaped my life. I came across a video of a girl from America, who attended the University of West London. I began looking at the rest of her videos and she explained the application process, what her day to day life was, and other things pertaining to her uni. This prompted me to look into British universities and I was interested to see that these schools were something that I liked. Thank you @lindylenix. I then researched how to apply and everything, and figured out it was through a web browser called UCAS.

       UCAS is similar to the Common App that we use in the states. You put in all your information, write an essay, and can submit it to multiple schools with just the singular application. You can apply to 5 schools in the UK, and for me they were City, University London, University of West London, University College London, Queen Mary University of London, and University of Greenwich. I was accepted into City University London as a communication major, but ultimately decided that's not what I wanted to do. 

       Being denied from the other 4 schools, I felt like I was going to be stuck somewhere I didn't want to be. That was until I came across another girl on tik tok who attended the American University in Rome. She explained that a lot of big cities across the world have American universities where students are taught in English and given a dual degree that is acceptable in the United States and in the country they are studying in upon finishing their courses. This is when I found Richmond, and since it was an American accredited university I was able to apply through Common App. 

       Fast forward to spring break of 2021, sitting on a beach in Miami. I had been accepted to Richmond, but was still deciding what school had the most to offer for me. My mom and I both decided that Richmond was the best fit, and that if I ended up hating it, home was always there to come back to. I began the process of accepting my offer and that has led to today.