London Town to Memphis, My Final Thoughts-Wayne Taylor

I have been home for a couple of weeks now, and I am reflecting on the amazing experience I had in London. The hustle and bustle of the city, the Twinings Tea, Citibank,and, of course, the awesome people that shared this experience with me.

My last week in Europe I went to Paris. Paris was more calming and enjoyable than I was expecting. You walk around and suddenly see the Eiffel Tower. The best part was visiting Notre Dame Cathedral, Palace of Versailles, and walking along the Seine River. It was the perfect ending to an incredible journey in Europe.

 

Speaking of my journey in Europe, this study abroad experience has certainly been worth the time, money, and work. I would have never imagined that I would call London home or miss it this much, but I now I realize why I miss it. I miss it because it challenged me to grow in the areas of determination, hope, and passion.

I was determine to go to London and have the best time of my life. I was hoping that all the studying and  the gathering of  money/applying for scholarships would be able to support me and not be a waste. I was passionate about making London my home and to usurp every ounce of opportunity I found. I am proud to say that I stayed true to all of those expectations.

This experience has the been one the greatest happenings of my life. The studying and money now seems as a small payment in comparison with the joy and memories that I have ( even though more money in my bank account would be nice). My passion has increase to challenge myself more in both academic and personal areas of life. I was able to make connections in an international bank ( my linked in profile looks legit by the way), visit incredible places all around Europe, but, most importantly, I was able to understand different cultures and value my own at the same time. I have truly grown.

 I have not only lived my dreams; I  have fulfilled others. The dreams of my single mother who worked hard every day to make sure I attended the best schools,the dreams of my family hoping that I make the best of myself, the unknown dream of the young boy who went from  living in poverty in Little Rock, Arkansas to living in the center of London, U.K.


As the late Maya Angelo once wrote, "Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave."

Good luck to the GLS class of 2017 and thanks London for the memories,

Wayne Taylor

I love Paris - Rachel

Paris was amazing!!!!!!!!!!! I went to Paris this past Saturday and Sunday and I must say, it was everything that I have been dreaming of. I went with Piper and we took the train under the English Channel from London. We had absolutely gorgeous weather too!

Saturday we arrived in Paris around 11 A.M. and we checked into our hostel and then set out to find some lunch. We ended up eating Panini’s and crepes right by Notre Dame. At 1 P.M. we took a free walking tour around Paris. We learned about various landmarks and about some unknown history. We went to Notre Dame, the love lock bridge, the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel tower, and more. The love lock bridge was pack pull of locks that people had attached to the bridge and thrown the key into the river.

The Louvre was huge! I learned that it was originally a fortress but now houses over 35,000 works of art, including the Mona Lisa. We did not want to wait in the intimidating line though so I will have to visit the Louvre on my next visit to Paris. There are beautiful gardens that fill in the area surrounding the Louvre. At the end of the gardens is an Obelisk that France stole from Egypt. Pretty cool!

Piper and I walked over to the Eiffel Tower and we were not disappointed. Once you are close to it you notice its massive size and the intricate details in the metal. There are swirls of metal as well as a list of 72 French scientists listed on the Tower. We sat in the fields of grass that face the tower for a while and enjoyed the 70 degree weather and beautiful sunshine (I even got a little sunburnt). After this we headed to our hostel to get ready for dinner. We got moved around a few rooms in our hostel but settled in a room with Canadians and an Australian guy that were very nice.

We went out to dinner at Chartier which is known for being great food for a cheap price in Paris. We were awkwardly sat next to a couple though in order to take advantage of all of the seats in the restaurant. I got steak, fries, and a dessert! We headed back to the Eiffel Tower to see it lit up at night. It even sparkles and glitters every hour for 5 minutes. It was so beautiful! After taking a million pictures we painstakingly walked in our heels back to our hostel. I stayed up late talking to the people in our room and hearing about their travel advice.

The next day we got up and headed to Laduree to eat macaroons! They were very pretty and fairly delicious. We tried to get into the Louvre next but decided against waiting in the long lines since we had not previously purchased tickets. We walked around and visited the Arc de Triomphe and the famous shopping street, Champs-Élysées. We walked all the way back to the love lock bridge and I bought a painting so that I will always remember how beautiful Paris is.

 

Next we headed up to Montmartre. It is a huge hill that allows you to overlook Paris. The view was stunning! We were starving at this point so we sat down for some food. I had a go at escargot. Not bad actually but quite difficult to get out of the shell. I felt pretty dumb trying to use the utensils that the staff gave me to get the snails out. Then it was time to collect our bags and head back to the train station and back to London. I slept the whole way home!

 

I am in love with Paris and I am so glad that I went in April so that I will always remember it as warm, sunny, and full of blooming flowers. I am already dreaming of heading back!

Cheers to Londontown

So if you don't already know this I pretty much suck for never posting in this blog besides my introduction at the very beginning, but hey, at least I'm posting in it now, right? Basically, this semester has probably been the best semester of my life and as my London experience is coming to an end, it's very bittersweet looking back on my time here and I feel extremely lucky. I've learned a few things and experienced things I probably never would've been able to throughout this trip and they're things that I'll always remember. Some of these include:

1) Wearing the same outfit at least a million times throughout the semester
2) Getting to see my all-time favorite artist (Ed Sheeran) in the city where he became famous
3) Learned that if you're ever in a foreign country and need to find a place to pee, Starbucks and McDonald's are your best options because it seems like every country has one.
4) I've become somewhat of a fish and chip snob because every pub I go to, I judge them heavily on it.
5) I don't actually like tea, but hey, I can definitely make a "proper tea" and I have a British guy that can back me up on that.

As well as all of the random things that I've learned, I've also learned a lot about my fellow GLSers. They've all made me want to try to be better in different ways. For instance, I wish I had Wayne's ability to cook from scratch and just his natural instinct to know what a sauce is missing and his infectious laugh that can make anyone laugh, Sarah Hudson's dance moves, Kenan's ability to make friends with any stranger, Patrick's incredible memory, Mariah and Rachel's planning abilities, Matt's story-telling ability, Daniel's invincibility to the cold, and Lexie and Lindsey's easy going attitudes. Basically not only do they all motivate me to be better academically, they make me want to be better in all aspects of life. Being in Global Leadership Scholars has been one of the most beneficial things I've ever done, not only because I got to come to London, but because I got to experience it with the 25 others in the program with me. I'm sorry that I turned this into a sappy blog post but that's what endings do to me. Writing this has reminded me why I didn't write a blog the whole semester mostly because I tend to think I'm clever and funny, when in reality I'm really not. Anyways, my main message to anyone thinking about going abroad is just do it. It really opens your eyes to so many incredible things that you'll never be the same. I'm going to end this post with one of my favorite quotes, "The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page".

Cheers,

Sarah Aronson

                                 Kenan and I at the Royal Albert Hall for the Ed Sheeran concert

Internship and Places to Go-Wayne Taylor

Interning at Citibank has kept me busy these past weeks. As I mentioned before, I am in the Supply Chain Finance and I am enjoying my team and learning more about the company.

I have been helping my team with numerous projects throughout the months.From collecting and analyzing data to creating illustrative flow charts, I have seen many sides of what it means to be in a global business environment. My colleagues make phone calls to Spain, Sweden, and even Switzerland just to make sure everything is running smoothly. There are  even conference calls or meetings with different teams in different countries.

 I have also learned to take more of an initiative to make sure that I am learning things. If I do not understand the work I am doing, I have learned that it is better to ask many questions and do it right, than to make the same mistake and have to correct the whole task. Also, I really do have a higher appreciation of people that work 9-5 Monday through Friday. The work and life balance is important to maintain, and that balance can be difficult at times.

On an other note, I only have two weeks left in London. I am trying to everything I can to explore London more. I have biked around the city ( I may have been struggling/ holding my bike for the most part), went to the Cambridge vs. Oxford row race,  finally visited the British Museum, and went to Abbey Road. Also, the London Eye at night is beautiful. .However, one of the greatest experiences was going to a pillow fight in Trafalgar Square. And yes, I brought a pillow and things went down and feathers were everywhere.

Cheers for now,

Wayne Taylor

Ireland -- Piper Davis

My third work of week was really slow. I read an entire book one day because they didn't have anything for me to do. I was super excited about my weekend trip to Ireland to visit my friend Sam and her boyfriend, so time went by even more slowly.

As I was standing in line to board the plane Friday night, these two girls behind me were being so loud and obnoxious (I really hope that's not how Americans come across to other people). It got to the point that everyone in line (about 100 people) were staring at them. Apparently death stares are not universally understood. It was my luck that they were in the seat behind me on the plane. I asked the flight attendant if there were any open seats in the back, and he asked how far I wanted to go. I told him "as far away as the girls behind me as possible." (I'm normally not the kind of person to do that, but it was that bad.) I somehow wound up with an entire row to myself about 10 rows back, so my flight was very nice!

David, Sam's boyfriend, picked me up from the airport and we went back to their cottage in Wicklow. Wicklow is about an hour south of Dublin. Saturday, Sam and I went horseback riding in the mountains. That afternoon, we all went to Glendalough. This is probably the prettiest place I've been. It is the site of a very old monastery. The landscape was gorgeous! There were waterfalls, giant lakes, and green plants everywhere. 

  

Sunday, we went to the beach. It was also breathtaking. I felt like I was on a movie set the entire time I was in Ireland. David told me some really interesting facts about Ireland (He's lived there his entire life). 

1. Some Irish people actually believe in Leprechauns.

2. There are no snakes.

3. Undergraduate education is free as long as you pass a test.

4. Guns are illegal. Cops in Ireland don't even carry pepper spray. They only have a stick.

5. There are no poisonous spiders or poison ivy.

6. The only sharks that are on the coast are basking sharks, and they don't have teeth.

7. There are no rabies.

8. All the museums are free (to everyone, not just EU citizens). 

9. There are very few car wrecks. In order to get your license, you must know how to drive a manual and be able to pass a series of tests. In one part of the test, you have to identify various parts of the engine. You also have to take your car in every year (unless it's a new car) for it to get tested.

10. There is no cancer.

Ha, okay, so that last one is false. But you get the point--nothing in Ireland can kill you. It's basically the opposite of Australia. 

David was telling me how freaked out he was when he saw a police officer in the U.S. carrying a gun and how strange he found it that Americans talk about being in wrecks so casually. We talked about cultural differences for a long time. My favorite part was when he asked me if I had ever ridden a yellow school bus. (He has only seen them in movies). I said  he really wasn't missing out on that experience.

I had such a wonderful time. My return flight got delayed, so I didn't land in London until midnight. Although, a perk of traveling from Ireland is you don't have to go through border control! I'm hoping to go back there Easter weekend and see more of the country!

Ireland is definitely my favorite place so far. 

   

Amsterdam - Rachel Van Deventer

This past weekend I traveled to Amsterdam in The Netherlands with Piper, Jonathan, Daniel, and Amira. We left work and headed immeditaly to the airport on Friday. Our flight was actually to Eindhoven so we then had to catch a bus and a train in order to get into Amsterdam.

On the ride into the city I was jamming to my ipod and basking in the awesome city. My ancestors are mostly Dutch so I was excited to be in the country that they were from. We stayed in christian hostel in the middle of the city (and the red light district). Once arriving we walked around the city a little bit before heading to bed.

Saturday we got up and did a walking tour of the city. We even found the moving, iconic I-Amsterdam sign during our walk. The canals were absolutely beautiful and the amount of bikes in Amsterdam was outrageous. Luckily, the rain held our for us and both days were fairly nice.

That evening we went out for a nice dinner and ended up eating waffles and pancakes called poffertjes. They were delicious! (and so nice to have since london doesn't believe in waffles or pancakes). Sunday we got up and headed out of the city center in search of a windmill. We found one!

Overall, the trip was quick but very fun. I am glad that I got to go to the country of my ancestors!

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Dunnhumby! - Rachel Van Deventer

I have been interning at Dunnhumby on the commercial solutions team for 2 1/2 weeks now. I really really like it. I deal with extremely large data sets and manipulate them so I can learn from the data. I have a nice and intelligent team that is always available for me to ask questions.

My first week was very intimidating because I was told that I would need to use SAS (Statistical Analysis System) and be able to computer program. My team was busy and there were not any workshops coming up that could help me learn SAS so I stumbled through the program for a week and eventually got the basics down. I used those skills to my advantage during my second week and completed one of my three project objectives for my internship. Learning to write code was hard but interesting. I know that I will need to write code in the future and I am grateful that I had the opportunity to learn some now.

I am also working with a data collection website called Omniture. So, along with learning SAS I am also learning how to navigate a complicated data website that collects every detail about online/mobile transactions, known as clickstream. Very few people have done projects using the clickstream data so I am excited to explore a new area. Unfortunately, this also means that none of my co-workers can really help me with Omniture. I am motivated to figure things out on my own though so that I can help my team understand clickstream data better and provide them with useful insights.

So far I have completed a project about what categories of products in Tesco are most popularly purchased online versus in stores. I am also wrapping up a project that details the usage of different devices throughout the day and throughout the week. I will finish up my internship by working on a project that has customers using multiple channels in order to make purchases from Tesco.

I am very interested in the work that I am doing and I know that I am on the right career path. The position is challenging but also gives me creative flexibility with my assignments. I am very excited to be working for Dunnhumby in London and I cannot wait to learn more each day.