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The following account was written by Laura LaPonte, a University of Delaware senior who spent the fall semester in England through the Study Abroad program
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| Laura LaPonte |
For most Americans, Independence Day came July 4, but my freedom arrived two months later on Sept. 4, when I boarded U.S. Air flight 99 to London.
It was the fall semester of my senior year as an English major with a minor in theatre. I decided to take the last of my elective courses, like art history, theatre and architecture, abroad so that I could experience, firsthand, things most students can only read about. I applied for the University’s study abroad program and was accepted.
With only my best friend, Joanna Siroka, also a graduating senior at UD, to share this entirely foreign environment, this trip would be another step towards growing up and graduating into the “real world.”
But, our attempt at independence was tested, along with our home country’s, shortly after our arrival.
It was Sept. 11, and I was in the first class of my semester in London, when we were told that the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers had fallen and our nation had been attacked by terrorists.
My first sight of the tragedy brought tears to my eyes and I remember looking over at Joanna who had chosen that day to wear a shirt with the name of her hometown, New York City, glittering across the front.
Initially, we were all angry to be so far from home and out of touch. But with time and the kindness extended from the usually reserved English people, we moved forward with our lives and experiences in Europe.
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| Warwick Castle |
We explored London with visits to Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, but it was our class work that really took us into the heart of England.
As part of our theatre class, we saw plays like Noel Coward’s Private Lives and even got to meet and talk with its leading man, Alan Rickman, the English-actor who plays Snape in the Harry Potter movie.
For our architecture course, we visited the English countryside and saw sights like Stonehenge and hot springs of the Roman temple of Aquae Sulis in Bath.
There was also plenty to learn outside of school on weekend trips to places like Shakespeare’s home in Stratford and Warwick Castle just outside of town, and when you’re in England, it’s only a short trip to other countries in Europe.
The history of Prague, the capitol of the Czech Republic, was brought to life through its architecturally beautiful buildings, castle and the Saint Charles Bridge.
I had been to Europe before visiting family in Italy and have vivid memories of its vast culture, uncontested food and my warm and wonderful relatives, all of which came back to me when I returned to the northeast section of the boot.
Fall break gave Joanna and me a week to visit Greece, the best place to forget that the rest of the world exists.
It’s easy to lose all cares with a day spent at Perissa beach on the island of Santorini, followed by a night watching the sunset from a cliffside overlooking the royal blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Visitors cannot help but be awestruck walking among the archaeological ruins of the Acropolis in Athens or Portara on the island of Naxos.
But, it was Paris that made me understand love at first sight.
During a whirlwind day-trip, I ate lunch at a famed Parisian sidewalk café, saw the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa at the Musee du Louvre and enjoyed the Musee d’Orsay’s exceptional collection of Impressionist art.
Between our trips through Europe, I never stopped exploring London and trying to experience that city through its markets and busy tourist sights. Joanna even bumped into Prince Charles and had a short conversation with him at a food fair in the Covent Garden section of the city.
As I flew back to the home of the free and the land of the brave, I contemplated my strengths and weaknesses.
This semester in London, studying, living and traveling throughout Europe, has helped me develop a stronger sense of independence and self, and finally, I feel ready to graduate into the real world.
Laura LaPonte
May 10, 2002
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