There is always the promise of new sights, new experiences, and new adventures when spending a semester living and studying abroad. On top of that, there's the promise of meeting new people – who quickly become old friends.
Asda is a British supermarket chain with more than 600 locations. Like Walmart, you could find just about anything a college student's dorm room might require at an Asda. It's the perfect place for the University of Roehampton to take its international students for a field trip on their first day in a new country. Scavenging the aisles for bare essentials was rather unremarkable, but Austin Crossley '25 recalls that standing around waiting to pay was a pivotal moment in his study abroad experience. He started chatting with a dozen strangers in his program. A couple are from Germany, some are from Australia, and by the end of the market trip, Austin had found his people.
"We all hang out together. We go into central London. I've just had so much fun exploring London and going to different places. It's great just knocking around and letting it come to me. Also, we've got our Wednesday night dart night."
The Angel is a Victorian pub in London with a cool vibe and, most importantly, a dart board. Every Wednesday night, Austin and his crew head to the pub for a night of laughter and darts (above).
"We just stumbled onto the bar and found out they have a dart board. We're getting the true pub experience. I had zero dart experience before this. My game is getting better. I'm starting to get my release point down. I'm definitely trending in the right direction."
Spending a semester abroad, specifically in London, was always in Austin's college plans. He understands, though, that some students might be nervous about going somewhere new and meeting new people. His advice:
"Go. Just go. It shouldn't even be a question. It's the best experience you can have. Just go and have a blast. You never hear anyone say they regret studying abroad. They regret not doing it. It's easily going to be one of the best times of my life."
Even though Austin's got a dozen new friends, he hasn't forgotten about his Siena friends. In fact, a few friends are flying to Dublin for spring break, and Austin will meet them there this weekend all for the cost of a $40 roundtrip flight. He'll be back in time for darts next Wednesday.