A New Play Every Night… In London
Before coming to Babson many of you all might have heard about the long list of study abroad programs that are offered for the full year or even a semester, but you don’t tend to hear about the shorter elective abroad options that are available to you.
Electives abroad are here for those like myself that may have circumstances that stop you from being able to go abroad for longer periods of time. Whether you’re an athlete that does not want to leave your team hanging, the type of person that does not want to be away from home for too long, or you simply can’t afford a full semester abroad, elective abroad programs might be just right for you. In my case, I’m in a program outside of Babson that required me to be local for the full school year, so the elective abroad was perfect for my situation.
The London Theater immersion course entitled “Play, Performance, Perspective: The London Stage” 
gave me the opportunity to visit the United Kingdom for the first time from January 6th-20th of 2017. Starting the year on a great note, this course was taught by Professor Jon Deitrick and co-lead by Professor Kevin Bruyneel. This 2-week course was amazing as I got to spend it with 21 other students in their sophomore through senior years. What made it even better is that I got 4 credits for the course in just two weeks.
This course was just right for me because for quite some time I
was on the fence about going abroad. I was not sure if I would be able to step away from my commitments on campus for even a semester, much less a year, and I also had no clue of exactly where I wanted to go. That’s when I came across this program. Feeding into my love for the arts, it gave me the opportunity to go to a different play EVERY NIGHT. From Shakespeare’s Love’s
Leonard Henry w/ Tim Key
Labour’s Lost in the Theatre Royal Haymarket to All the Angels in Shakespeare’s Globe, we saw beautiful theatrical productions in some amazing venues like the National Theatre. The program also afforded us the chance to do a behind the scenes tour of the theatre, giving us an inside look to all the operations that take place to make a show successful along with hearing the rich history of the building. I even got to flex my acting skills from my very successful elementary school career.
To make it better, we still got weekends off to explore London. It was my first time being in London, and I knew that there was so much to see. From the London Bridge, to the London
Eye, and even the changing of the guards, being in London gave me the opportunity to witness little pieces of London’s history first hand, and as a result of doing this program, I definitely caught the travel bug and will be going abroad again soon.
