Bailey Primm
Bailey Primm, freshman in Material Science and Engineering, will study this summer in London. During seven weeks in the School of International Education of Students (IES)* she will study London Theater and Shakespeare. Her Shakespeare class will count as her second English class and the theater class as Culture and Civilization's credit. Bailey explains how her everyday life will look like in London.
“IES has its own Residential hall. You live with the students who are with you in the program as well as with various students studying in London. The Residential hall is 45 minutes from school and that’s including bus traffic. I will have a roommate. There is two people living in 88 square feet room. It’s tiny, but we have a lobby and a shared kitchen. They say you don’t spend a lot of time in the room so it’s not a big deal that it’s so small. You don’t know who your roommate is until you get there. The housing department asked me everything, from what kind of music I listen to, what time I go to sleep, what are my favorite hobbies. I think they try to match you with somebody who has similar classes and similar habits."
Excited about her upcoming experience, learning about other cultures are among Bailey’s priorities.
“I was really happy about the fact that the Residential hall has international students from everywhere, not only America. Even though you are going be in London, in English culture, you might have an Italian roommate, someone who can teach you about other cultures while you are in London. I talked to a girl, who was in the program, and she said she had a lot of fun while she was there. They give you weekends off, so you have Friday to Monday to travel. The girl I talked to went to Paris, Ireland, and Scotland while she was there. I hope to learn about London culture but at the same time to get a lot of Western European."
Bailey warns that applying for a study abroad program might be a long process. She advises students to start early their application process.
“I have gone through the Study Abroad center on campus as well as through IES which is located in Chicago. I probably filled out 15 forms for each of them, everything from health forms to registering for classes. It begun in November 2008, I heard that I was accepted in February 2009 and my last deadline is in May. It’s a very long process but at the end I think it will be worth it. I would advise that the students start very early and research a lot of programs. I did a lot of researching and I found that IES was the best one for me. When I was trying to convince my parents to let me go overseas safety was a big issue. IES provided a lot of information where their housing was, where there school is; they require you to have cell phone, they are always in contact with you."
All the costs including airfare, food, housing and program are about $10,000. However, Bailey is hoping that this program will bring her much more.
“You always hope to meet a cute English guy. I love the accents! But, frankly, I just want to make a lot of friends, understand different culture, have a lot of fun and get some college credit.”
*Outreach Office Note: IES is a "Third PArty Provider" of Study Abroad programs. These providers are more expensive than "exchange" or "direct enrollment" programs, but offer services that the others do not. See discussion under "Getting Started".
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