Ahead of my semester in London, I held nothing but excitement in my heart. As I packed my bags, I looked forward to a semester full of travel and new friendships. More than that, I was excited to experience a country with a different government. I fantasized about strong public transportation systems and social welfare. As a public health major, American politics are oftentimes discouraging, and I longed to escape to a city that I felt like had it all.
Fast forward four months, I can confidently say that London did provide much of what I expected. The city was well-connected via bus and subway (tube if you are a Londoner). I was in awe of the plethora of free museums and public parks that I felt like I lacked back home. Some personal favorites were the TATE Modern and the Young V&A museum that is designed for children. As I learned more about London through my coursework, however, my picture of a perfect city started to fade. While public transportation in London is more developed than any system I have experienced in the States, it still holds its weaknesses. For example, many tube stations are not wheelchair or disability accessible which forces people with accessibility needs to travel longer and further to get where they need to go. Within our first week, the tubes were shut down due to worker strikes which made me aware of the poor pay and working conditions of transit workers. Free museums were wonderful and plentiful, but museums that tackled more taboo subjects such as feminine reproductive systems or LGBTI identities lacked funding and were tucked away in the outskirts of London. In addition, the United Kingdom came with its own slew of complicated politics and issues with governance related to migration, police brutality, and racism.
These aspects did not harm my semester abroad though. Quite the opposite in fact. As an outsider, I had the unique opportunity to appreciate the many positives of London as a city, but to also wish for improvements that would benefit future generations. This experience made me realize that I could take that same lens and apply it back to the States, whether that be Pittsburgh, or my home-town, northern Virginia. Now that the semester has ended, I am trying to adopt a tourist’s mindset to see both the things we do right, and the areas where we still have work to do.
