Well let's see. I'm a twenty-three year old woman living in London, UK to participate in the MSc. International Public Policy program at UCL.
The main purpose of this blog is to document the entire process of this journey...from the submitting of the applications, to the waiting game of receiving responses, to all of the tribulations of moving out of the country, and then finally; the experience of living in London for a year itself. I would like for this blog to be a way of communicating with my friends and family about my experiences, as well as providing a way to look back on everything once it is all said and done. Also, I had a lot of my questions regarding all things visa, moving, and living in another country answered through reading others' blogs about the process. I hope that this may help other future ex-pats!
So you may be wondering what led me to move to London for my studies, thus becoming an expatriate in the process. In the summer of 2009, I participated in a study abroad trip as my last 'semester' of my undergraduate degree. I lived in London for four weeks, and Edinburgh, Scotland for one; while studying Western European politics and democracies in English-speaking countries. During this time, I absolutely fell in love with London. I loved everything about it...and when it came time to leave, I was not happy!
Fast forward a few months...I was back in Michigan taking my planned year off from school. I was working full time and spending a lot of time trying to figure out exactly what I want to do with the rest of my life. Light topic, I know. The idea of being in an amazing city while completing my studies sounded much better to me than being somewhere like East Lansing, Michigan; where I completed my undergraduate degree. I guess my stupid abroad trip came at the right time and really opened my eyes to show me what I truly wanted out of life and for my future.
Long story short, I decided to continue studying a subject I love, political science; while in an international atmosphere. After I complete my dissertation, I will be moving back home to Michigan in August. From there, I will be studying my tush off to take the October LSAT, and plan for entering law school (who knows where, right now) in Fall of 2012.
