Morning, all!
This past week has been relatively calm compared to the others. I had excursions or field trips in both of my courses. On Tuesday my mass communications class visited the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) as well as The Financial Times. It was an extremely informative trip. For those of you that don’t know, I’ve been slowly considering the idea of pursuing Public Health in grad school. I’d like to get a degree in Disaster Management or a general Masters in Public Health. So needless to say the first stop at the school was a pretty eye-opening experience. Our guest speaker was Dr. Heidi Larson–former head of UNICEF communications and now Senior Lecturer for LSHTM. The theme of her lecture revolved around vaccine confidence and how scanning or monitoring the media is used to determine which countries have negative opinions towards immunization.
In order to do this, Dr. Larson created a team that uses artificial intelligence to scan traditional and social media in a variety of countries for key words that reveal the negative or positive positions on vaccines. She and her team then take this information and share it with places like the World Health Organization (WHO) to create campaigns trying to inform and correct fears or hesitations behind vaccination. The lecture sort of put into motion the possibility of how I could use my advertising degree in order to do something similar for my career. I could very well work for organizations like WHO and be behind the construction of similar projects or campaigns. Having my Spanish minor also reenforced the idea that I could even do this abroad in Hispanic countries.
The next stop at The Financial Times (FT) also solidified my career choice. For those of you who saw, in the blog previous to this I posted the link to my mass communications class’s blog. There I wrote about my experience at the FT and how it made me realize how lucrative the print industry still can be. To summarize and not repeat that post (please click the link on the prior submission to read it), a UGA alumni is doing very well for himself in London and not only gave us a tour of the newspaper building but insight into how a typical day goes for himself and other FT employees. There’s constant last minute changes before major deadlines and a huge necessity for good writers and graphic designers. This stop on our excursion made me want to learn more about graphics but also continuing to practice my ability in writing; especially when it comes to my blogging skills.
As you can tell, the entire day was filled with potential real world applications of my degree. The whole experience made me excited to get out in the workforce. Well really, to start grad school and start specializing in everything to be considered competitive and eventually successful. It was absolutely invigorating.
Throughout the remaining week I mostly spent my time doing school work and preparing for another excursion in my Shakespeare class. On Friday we took a day trip to Stratford where we not only saw the school Shakespeare attended, but also a performance of one of his earlier plays The Two Gentlemen of Verona. The school is called King Edward VI School and has been in Stratford since the 13th century. My class was actually allowed on the grounds (which is not typically open to tourists) and given a tour by one of the school’s current teachers. We were allowed to see the chapel from the 1200s and the school house that Shakespeare himself was taught in. Unfortunately there’s not documentation of him attending the school, but since John Shakespeare (his father) was mayor of Stratford for a time–King Edward VI School is the only place in the area that William would have possibly been educated. Our tour guide told us that upon analyzing William Shakespeare’s works, you can see Latin phrases or other school subjects that are verbatim to the courses instructed at the school during that exact time period. Thus marking the school as “Shakespeare’s school.” My favorite part of the tour was the original paint from 1455. The house roses of the Lancasters and Yorks from the Wars of the Roses still adorn the walls.
After visiting the school, my class went to dinner at a nice restaurant that is actually on the rooftop of The Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre. There I had a delicious three course meal (paid for by the program) of beetroot salad, pasta, and creme brûlée. At 7:15 The Gentleman of Verona began and lasted until about 10:00 that night. The comedy was much funnier live than it was to read. The play was set in modern Milan and Verona. The main characters were dressed in really stylish suits and dresses but still spoke exactly how the play was written. The costume and setting however definitely helped with comprehension and made it more relatable, at least in my opinion.
On Saturday I spent the day writing a review on said play with my friend Sarah. Unfortunately however, our study environment at a quiet pub was interrupted when our two friends happened to show up to the same place. We decided to continue our work on Sunday and grabbed a pint with them instead. Thank goodness we decided to stop working because if we hadn’t, not but an hour after our friends arrived–a large bachelor party stormed in making a stop at their “nineth hole” of an eighteen round pub crawl. Needless to say I saw some local color when a gentleman decided he would try to “chat up” the “clever American girl.” I don’t think he enjoyed it though because I wouldn’t give him the same level of attention. Fun fact-the English know about Mississippi and Kentucky but not Georgia. Thank God. Luckily the groom eventually called off his dog, and wished myself and my friends a lovely evening. Poor sad bloke. From there all of us grabbed dinner at an Italian place and I concluded the evening FaceTiming my parents back at home.
Today I’ll be working on my review of The Two Gentleman of Verona. I have an incredibly busy week ahead of me because not only do I have another paper to write, but I also have a presentation and other assignments to get done early. This upcoming weekend is excursion free. This means, starting Thursday night I’ll be able to travel anywhere without having to worry about attending any events Friday through Sunday. Because of this, my mom is coming to Oxford where we will head to London and fly out to Paris for the weekend. I’m super excited for the trips; mainly I want to see the Louvre and all of the gardens. After the weekend my mom is staying in Oxford through Wednesday in order to see the sights and visit my college. My dad will also be able to join us again for dinner from his workplace near London.
All in all things have still been going well. The work aspect of studying abroad is in full swing. As I said with so many approaching due dates, I need to get a head start on everything. And fast.
Hoping the best for everyone at home. Cheers and I’ll see you after Paris!
A Broad Abroad 