Penn Abroad Ambassador Jasper Taylor

Program:

• SA: King's College London

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One of the unique aspects of my experience abroad was that it was my first time living outside of the country for an extended period of time. Although London is not as different from the United States as some other abroad destinations around the world, it was still a huge adjustment moving to London from Philadelphia. While there were large differences in culture, weather, and population, it was being prepared to handle these differences and adjustments effectively while also being dedicated to one’s studies that was important. Another aspect of my abroad experience concerns the grading system used by UK universities. For all of my classes, a student’s entire final grade depended on either one or two assignments, which were normally an essay or an in-person exam. Adjusting to this was difficult for me because of how different it was from the grading breakdown used by most professors at Penn. Finally, being in London specifically was a unique aspect of my experience. As one of the biggest cities in the world, the city really does feel huge both in terms of population and geography. It can be somewhat easy to feel isolated because it’s likely that students will live 30-45 minutes away from their friends, even if they are in the same program or attend the same school. Dealing with this was instrumental for success abroad and meant that it was important for me to make friends who lived physically near me.

My Experience Abroad:

My experience primarily related to my academic goals, and thus my major and coursework, while I studied abroad. While abroad in London, I was able to take classes for both my major and minor. Doing so allowed me to see the differences in instruction between the disciplines of political science and history of art. Furthermore, it was an academic goal of mine to study abroad in general -- both to understand the facets of a college education in a foreign country and gain new perspectives on topics and disciplines I had previously studied in the United States. Studying abroad also helped immerse me in both my major and minor outside of the classroom -- as the capital of the United Kingdom, London is incredibly important as the center of British politics and is important for European politics overall. The access to institutions and museums supporting both politics and the arts further helped immerse me in my academic pursuits outside the classroom. In terms of professional goals, studying abroad in London opened up the possibility of working abroad full time in a city like London. I learned more about the countless work opportunities available in the British capital, and am now interested in moving back to London at some point in my professional career.

Other Highlights:

A first highlight for me was visiting The British Museum with other students in my art history course and getting to touch and handle ancient Greek and Roman artifacts. As an art history student, an instrumental part of the discipline is getting to see and touch objects in person, so visiting the world’s foremost collection of ancient objects and artifacts was particularly meaningful to me. This is a primary example of an opportunity that I was afforded by going abroad and attending school in London. Another highlight of my experience was traveling to other European countries to learn more about their history, culture, and art. I traveled to countries like Germany, France, and Spain, and in each took the time to visit historical sites and museums to educate myself about these places. For example, in Barcelona, I visited the Joan Miro Foundation -- a museum dedicated to the works of artist Joan Miro, who I had previously studied at Penn and was fascinated by. A final highlight was meeting new people from all around the world thanks to my program. I lived with students from all around the world, including students from France, England, Canada, and Italy. It meant a lot to me to meet these people, bonded together by our shared experience studying in a foreign country surrounded by new people.