This fall semester, several Simpson College students are across the sea, studying abroad in London, England, with Ann Woldt at the University of Roehampton until the spring. 

Simpson offers five semester-long international programs and aims to provide students with excellent international opportunities, and that is precisely what students in London are doing now. 

Students have had great opportunities in London and traveling around Europe. 

Junior theater major, Tanner Striegel, said he has had exceptional opportunities in London, given that theater is a large part of their country’s culture.

Since being there, he has seen performances such as Shakespeare at the Globe, an off-west End play, or some big commercial West End musical.

“I am extremely thankful that I have been able to see so much theatre while I’ve been here,” Striegel said. 

The students have been traveling all over Europe and experiencing even more culture. Junior Morgan Sorenson, senior Laura Nielsen and Striegel went to Ireland for one weekend and explored all over. 

Sorenson said her favorite part of the trip was staying across from this church previously abandoned by monks. After being abandoned, the community took it and kept the ground level as a church, but one resident turned the basement into a bar and named it Hell. Another citizen turned the upstairs level into a brothel and called it Heaven. 

Striegel, Sorenson and Nielsen also went to Italy for a week and traveled to Rome, Florence and Venice. They tried risotto, Tuscan wine and gelato, and they saw sights such as the Vatican and islands off the Italian coast. They all have plans to travel more since flights are cheap and traveling in Europe is incredibly easy. 

Traveling isn’t the only experience they are having though, according to junior Jessica Pierce, college classes are entirely different. Universities in London are only three-year programs, and they have new teachers in every class. However, teachers are called module conveyors, and the classes are structured as all lecture and discussion-based. 

They do have clubs just like America, though. Sorenson joined a club called Grow Hampton. They learn about sustainable growing food, such as beetroot, chard, gourds and so much more. Whatever they grow, they then sell it to cafes on campus or the community making sure none goes to waste. 

Striegel said he has gotten involved with the community and chamber choir, and he participates in the musical theatre ensemble. While Roehampton doesn’t have the option for a musical degree like Simpson, they offer these opportunities for musically inclined people to get together, sing, and meet new people. 

The students in London are having a fantastic time experiencing other cultures, traveling and trying new things. Sorenson, Striegel and Pierce all said they wouldn’t trade this experience for the world. 

“I remember when we landed here, and all these other passengers on the plane were telling us to ‘Enjoy London’ with a special glint in their eyes. At the moment, I was exhausted from the jet lag already and simply could not understand what would be so ‘special’ about this place. Now I know,” Striegel said.