Kaitlin Waters : Ready for the world?

Hi guys, I'm (obviously) Kaitlin and currently 9 days out from our big trip! I live in the beautiful city of Chattanooga, Tennessee and have been enjoying my winter break here via Netflix and home-cooked meals. My family just got back from a week-long stay in Breckenridge, Colorado and it was easily the best vacation I've had to date. I don't think London will have anywhere near the altitude of Colorado, but I did get to catch a glimpse of some reallyyyy cold weather!

As of right now, I am a Human Resource Management major, however that is likely to change. GLS has been a fantastic change to my academic life, and I cannot wait to spend every waking minute with you people in Europe. I hope to travel at any free chance I get, however I might have to compromise a couple meals to do so. The budget is going to be tight next semester, which should make things interesting. I have had numerous helpful tips and recommendations on where to travel in Europe, which is only making me more excited to go!

Aside from traveling, I will be working for Communities Into Training and Employment, or CITE for short, during my stay in London. It is a very small job training/placement company that assists both individuals seeking employment and companies wanting to retrain their staff. The small size of the company should suit me well, and I cannot wait to begin!

Anywho, good luck to all of my GLSers with packing and saying their final goodbyes. I know those have been some of my biggest hurdles to jump before we leave.. But the countdown continues- 9 days!!

12 DAYS *anxious breathing* - Katrina Laemmerhirt

Hello everyone! My name is Katrina Laemmerhirt and I'm from Mount Olive, NJ.

My winter break has consisted of watching Netflix and eating food so, you can say I've really been preparing for this trip. Although my body refuses to leave my bed, I am so excited to be in London!!!!! I have recently ventured into the basement to find luggage and have been staring at my closet trying to decide what to pack. I have realized that I am a bit of a clothes hoarder, so this should be interesting. Also, Mount Olive has gotten about a foot of snow since I have been home so I'm very conflicted on whether London might be warmer then arctic tundra I'm living in now.... (Stay tuned to find out)

Besides this clothing dilemma, I CANT WAIT to see everyone again!!! I'm not exactly sure what my expectations are for London but I know, without a doubt, its going so amazing. Iv'e never been to Europe so I want to try to see and do as much as I can. I love adventure, and being the poor planner that I am, I definitely think this trip will take me to some really amazing places.

Last but not least, I am majoring in marketing and interning at the Lifestyle Agency marketing, PR firm. The company looks like a perfect fit for me and I can wait to meet the people working there! The company specializes in restaurants, clubs, cars, hotels, websites, and planes. Yes.

Well, 12 DAYS AHHH, wish me luck..
And...

Cheers!
Katrina

                                                                 Greetings from NJ

Almost Time to Leave! - Piper Davis

My name is Piper Davis, and I am from the very rural town of Finger, TN. My entire county has three stoplights, and I live on a farm with goats, dogs, chickens, cows, etc. Needless to say, moving to Knoxville was a little bit of a culture shock for me. I love to travel though, so I am beyond excited for traveling to London in two weeks! My proposed major right now is Finance, although I'm sure that will change as I take more classes. I'm so excited for my internship at Red Kite PR during March and April. They handle public relations for luxury brands, restaurants, chefs, and other consumer/lifestyle companies.

I have tried not to have too high of expectations of next semester because I don't want to be disappointed if I can't see every popular tourist destination. I will be living on a relatively tight budget, but I still plan on having a lot of fun! (The exchange rate is definitely not in Americans' favor.) Anyone that knows me well knows that I have tons of clothes. I've been procrastinating about deciding which to bring and how to fit them in one suitcase. So I guess one expectation I have about London is that it is home to fabulous (and hopefully affordable) fashion. Another thing I hope to do is understand the culture, as generic as that sounds. People keep telling all of us that we will "look American" no matter how we dress or act. I'm interested to see just how different British culture is than ours.

Other than little things, such as seeing Big Ben and the London Eye, I have no other expectations. I know I will have fun with these 25 amazing people no matter where we wind up or how we get there!

Finger, TN

London, UK

           

Great Expectations- Sarah Aronson

Hello,

My name is Sarah Aronson and I'm from Livingston, TN. As of this semester I'm majoring in Accounting but what I really want to do is Marketing, don't ask.

As far as London goes, I don't really know what to expect. I'm still in shock that I survived the fall semester. It'll be one of those things that hits me whenever we reach Heathrow and then I'll get really excited. I think living in London will be an amazing experience and I'm going to try to walk everywhere just so I can take in the city and see all that it has to offer. I also don't think I'll ever get used to the British accents, and I can't wait to meet some of the locals. Anyways, I look forward to all of the crazy adventures that my 25 classmates and I will embark on together. We'll always have London...


Cheers!

Sarah

4 months in 1 bag? - Sarah Hudson

Not that it isn't impossible, it is just going to be difficult. We'll see how things turn out.

Hello everyone! I'm Sarah Hudson, and I am a sophomore at UT majoring in supply chain management and logistics.

I wish I could easily sum up how I feel about the great London excursion about to happen. I have about 20 different emotions when I think about it. Nervous, excited, apprehensive, adventurous...you name it. However, nothing trumps how happy and fortunate I am for the opportunity I have been given to live in London for the next four months. It's also a huge plus that I am not travelling alone, as I will have 25 amazing people to share the experience with. AND I CANNOT WAIT TO TRAVEL. All I want to do is travel. Anywhere, everywhere, I'm there. Stay tuned!

Cheers! (Better start getting used to that now. My internship supervisor said it to me at the end of our phone interview, and I said thank you...embarrassing.)

Sarah

It's London time, baby.

Another GLSer -Liz Cao

Hi all,

My name is Elizabeth Cao Nguyen and I am yet another thankful member of the Global Leadership Scholars at the University of Tennessee. I am from Chattanooga, Tennessee, a logistics major, and the oldest of four girls.

If I had to pick three words describing how I feel about going to London this next semester, it would definitely be anxious, nervous, and excited. I've never been to Europe before, so I am excited to experience the vast amount of history and culture that it has to offer. On the other hand, I've never been away from my family for more than three weeks, so I am terribly nervous that home won't be just an hour and a half drive away. More than anything though, I am anxious to explore, learn, and live in London with 25 of my comrades and make memories that I will carry on with me long after I return.

GLS Class of 2016 is ready for London, but I don't think London is ready for us.

Me, Sarah, Piper, and Kenan

A Year of Traveling - Rachel Van Deventer

My name is Rachel Van Deventer and I am a member of the Global Leadership Scholars Class of 2016. I am majoring in Business Analytics with a concentration in International Business. I am from Columbus, OH but I have moved around a lot and my new hometown is in Honolulu, Hawaii.

I am excited to go to London, England for a semester but to be honest, I pretty nervous. I have never traveled this far or just traveled in general without my family. While I am sure I will be scared at first, I am ready to challenge myself. Plus, I have a new family, the GLS class of 2016. We have become so close already and I know that we all have each others' backs. I want to travel to as many countries as I can while I am in Europe. I hope that I will love to travel and that this semester will solidify my goal to be involved in international business. I hope to learn that it is okay to get lost and just go with the flow.

This will certainly be a semester that I will never forget. When I arrive back in the U.S. in April, I start an internship in Charleston, SC at Cummins. It will  be a year of traveling! I have already started by journeying over to Honolulu for winter break!

London Calling - Jonathan Edwards

Hello Everyone,

I am Jonathan and my stomping grounds are found in Smithville, Tennessee. Smithville is a very small town and size is one reason I moved to Knoxville for college; I wanted the “big city” experience. Now I am about to travel to the really big city of London, and hopefully other parts of Europe. I am a sophomore at the University of Tennessee and am majoring in Finance. I have plans of working in Private Equity upon graduation. When it comes to London, I have no idea where this study abroad experience is going to lead me and that’s PERFECT. I always enjoy a journey and just going where life takes me. Additionally, I couldn't ask for a better group of people to travel with. I do plan to spend every last dollar I have and come back completely broke just because it seems right. Please return often to read not only my posts, but posts of my GLS colleagues. Take-off is on January 8 and from there it is go time.

Cheers,

Jonathan Edwards

T-21 days! - Kenan Smith

Hello readers!
My name is Kenan Smith and I am from the wonderful city of Snellville, Georgia, a suburb 40 minutes outside of Atlanta. After graduating high school, my parents moved to Brentwood, TN and I figured I'd make the Tennessee move with them and found my way to the University of Tennessee. I am majoring in Human Resource Management with hopes of going into leadership and organizational development. I have fallen in love with this school and the wonderful opportunities that have gotten to experience. GLS has been wonderful so far, and it still hasn't set in that I will be in London in 21 short days with some of the best, most supportive people I have ever met. Never having been out of the country before, I am excited (yet very very nervous) to jump across the pond and have the chance in a lifetime to live, study, and work in the city that I have always dreamed about visiting. I don't think it will really set in fully until I am strapped into my seat on the plane on January 8th.

Well, here's the first of many posts. I can't wait for this journey of a lifetime with 25 of my best friends.

Cheers!
Kenan

Also, a huge "thank you" to the best parents on
the face of the planet for all of their support!
Going to miss them the most!

 

A blurb. - Lexie Barton

Hey, there. For my first blog post, I was instructed to do an introduction of myself- or a blurb per se. So here's my introductory blurb:

My name is Lexie Barton and I hail from Knoxville, Tennessee where I also study Marketing with the fabulous GLS program at the fabulous University of Tennessee. I love anything that has to do with music, travel, and/or food... so clearly the Travel Channel is one of my favorite channels as those nouns pretty much sum up the Travel Channel in 5 words. I am primarily right-brained (go creativity) and my favorite movies are "Love Actually" and "Almost Famous." I am a fan of all things the Beatles and Dickens- so clearly I am excited to be crossing the pond to England. I don't really have any expectations for the trip, which I guess is the beauty of it. I know that I will have a great time, so the rest can just be chalked up to "we'll see." I really enjoy traveling and I can't wait to get to know the U.K. I find that the U.K. is one of those places that everyone wants to tell you about and swears they know from watching "Skins" and "What a Girl Wants" and reading Lonely Planet. But I think that (thankfully) there is more to the story, and I can't wait to find out how I'll get to know the U.K. in my own way.

P.S. Don't let the early post fool you- I am also a rampant procrastinator and a chronically late person.

Cheers,
Lexie

GLS Class of 2016

Welcome to the blog for the Global Leadership Scholars - Class of 2016.  In January 2014, these 26 students will be traveling from Knoxville, TN to London, England for a study abroad experience in the spring 2014 semester.  Follow along with this blog as they all write about their adventures with class, traveling, and internships!

For more information about the Global Leadership Scholars, please visit the following website:
http://bus.utk.edu/undergrad/global_leadership/index.htm