We couldn't wait to start sharing the experiences of our students in London and we're so happy to share them now. Each student will have the chance to share their thoughts about the trip and how it affected them. First up, rising sophomore Mayte:
Going to London was such an eye-opening and new experience that made me want to travel more. I was able to learn so much and grow during this trip not only from all the companies, and experiences, but in myself as well. There were so many things that were different that made London so unique. As soon as we stepped outside the airport you could see how big the tube system was as well as all the buildings and how different the city was compared to the Bay Area. All the buildings looked like they had just come out of a movie.
Throughout the week I found so many things that I never would have expected to interest me. Everyday seeing new companies and learning about what everyone did for them made me realize that there are many jobs that don’t have to be connected to the one thing you study and your major can be applied to several other jobs focusing on a variety of things.
I have always loved trying new things and retrying things after a while even if I know I will not enjoy them. For instance, I have never liked tea, but in London I really wanted to try the tea and it turned out to be my favorite food from the entire trip. At the U.S.
Embassy, meeting new kids, going to talk to them, and trying their food, I felt like I definitely had to step out of my comfort zone. In doing so I got to meet many amazing students and formed connections just by doing something that made me uncomfortable. I have played soccer my entire life and am always put in new positions that I am uncomfortable with, one of my coaches always made sure that when we made mistakes, we didn’t think of how to not make more errors, but instead to learn from them and be comfortable being uncomfortable, something that stuck with me that I had never thought about until this trip. Being able to make that connection helped me realize that in order to grow as a person you have to be vulnerable.Throughout the trip we were put in unexpected positions that we didn’t think we would be in, like hauling all our luggage through the tube, or all the walking that we were warned about, but never really imagined would be so much. From all these situations we were put through, we learned to find solutions and not shut down when a problem came to us, instead we found ways to solve it and get through them.
I was impacted many times on this trip. I found that I wasn’t as confident when talking to adults. I had to find the right question to ask after the hosts of the companies told us about themselves and everything they did when in reality, they liked any question and I didn’t need to worry about asking a dumb question. It was something that took me a while to realize — that it was a major part of thanking a person for meeting with us and taking the time to talk to us about their jobs and experiences. Additionally, I was impacted by the beauty of London. It seemed like there was not a place you could turn to look at that wasn’t beautiful. Overall, I learned so much from this trip, from talking to adults to learning about so many different and diverse jobs to seeing how much of the world I haven’t experienced and seen. Traveling is something I am more anxious to do now more than ever. By seeing everything in London and all it has to offer I found that I have so much more to see and do. Given this new perspective I am eager to continue seeing and learning new things wherever I see opportunities to learn.
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