Student Activities Blogs

Andrea Lama

A Quarter of the Way There!

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Hello everyone! I’m a quarter of the way done with this European experience, and there are so many more things I want to do! I just planned a trip to Spain in April, during which I fully intend on spending a lot of time at the beach and eating large amounts of paella. It would seem that I am doing a tremendous amount of eating here in Europe and…well, that would be correct (and I don’t regret a single bite)! In Paris I had a beautiful croissant and lots of French fries, and in London as well as here in Warwick I’ve have a fantastic amount of fish ‘n chips, and in the Netherlands I had Belgian waffles! Those were by far the most amazing waffles ever, since they were warm and incredibly sugary and filled with dark chocolate.

The Eiffel Tower!

Other than eating, and travelling, I’ve been going to classes! I’m really glad all my courses are UConn-equivalents, so (hopefully!) I won’t be behind when I get back. Although, I am worried about the next trimester here at Warwick. So, classes end in two weeks, and then we have a 5 week break for Easter. When we get back, the first two weeks we have classes like normal, but the sole purpose of these classes are to tell us what to study for exams in June! After those two weeks, there are no classes, and students are just expected to study for two months! Some other Business students I’ve talked to are getting internships, but since my visa doesn’t allow me to work, I can’t do that. I’ve tried to get into volunteering, but to work with children in the UK you need to get a background check, which for non-EU citizens takes about three months, by which I’ll be gone! I guess it’s good that I’ll have so much time to study, hopefully by the end I’ll be an expert in the courses I’m taking, but I can’t help but feel like having students stay here and pay for housing for two months when they could be studying at home and not paying rent is just a little silly. However, I am really looking forward to some more free time to travel and eat!

Other than the courses I’m taking, myself and other UConn students here at Warwick, and my other friends also abroad are anxiously anticipating the time to register for classes and for housing next year! My class selection appointment is pretty good, but the time difference is a little funny, and because of it I have to pick my courses at 10 pm! Hopefully housing won’t be the same, because if it is I’ll be worried about it all day. But, I am looking forward to finally being a senior (actually, that’s a lie. I’m not ready to graduate!) and getting a shot at an apartment on campus and other perks that come with that ever-anticipated senior-status.

A well-travelled HOLDUP! shirt indeed!

Speaking of seniors: HOLDUP!! I can’t explain exactly how much I miss it. A snow day during the last meeting meant that I couldn’t read the minutes emailed out to all the members, and that crushed my soul a little bit. HOLDUP! has got a new school as well! Up to three! I can’t believe the program has come this far. I also can’t believe I only have a year left with it! I’m not ready to let go permanently! But, I am really happy for it, and all the members and all the great work they’ve been doing. With all these budget cuts looming in my inbox, I’ve been worried about whether or not HOLDUP! will be cut from the University program list. HOLDUP! does such amazing things for the UConn community (just look at our members!) as well as the students in the schools we present to. However, I know that if that happens, we can still keep her running, thanks to all the amazing members we’ve got. No matter what happens, it’s good to know that HOLDUP! has got a bright future ahead and isn’t going anywhere anytime soon!

So, in the next update, you can expect to hear about my travels. Amsterdam and Germany are planned for the first weeks of my Easter break, then back to London and Paris towards the end, and Spain in the middle of April! Stay tuned for more!