Liverpool Hope University: Snapshots of Campus Life

I woke up this morning, surprised to see snowflakes tumbling down from the grey canopy of clouds. Although I’ll be in Liverpool for two more weeks, today was my last day of classes. It’s a melancholy feeling I can’t describe: the inevitable passing of time, hours melting away like a snowflake in my palm.  As …

Schooling…or Unschooling?

As of this writing, it’s Friday, and every single class on my Liverpool Hope University (LHU) timetable was actually held this week AND last week, making me a very happy student. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the education structure here is different from Hope. Classes at LHU last a full year (October – …

Pick Your People

Happy Friday! After the full week of travel during Reflective week, it has been refreshing to be back in Liverpool this week! To echo the words of another friend studying abroad, I hadn’t realized how much Liverpool had started to feel like home until I returned from Italy. On Sunday, I left the city center …

Four Countries, One Week

Hello from Ireland, Wales, and Italy, although by the time this is published, I’ll be back in England! At Liverpool Hope University (LHU), terms are split into four weeks of class followed by a reflective week. Reflective weeks are weeks without classes intended for students to catch up on work, study, research, or rest. This …

The Peak District

I felt a little over-citied last week. Don’t get me wrong, Chester was lovely, the football match in Manchester the weekend before was memorable, and there’s always something to do in Liverpool’s City Centre, but I’m really a country girl at heart. I knew that moving to a lively city would be a change from …

A Day in Chester

The more time I spend in Liverpool, the more I realize how much there is to see and discover right here! Fellow classmates, local Liverpudlians, and other Brits are happy to suggest the best pubs, museums, parks, and must-see streets to explore in Liverpool and around the UK. I’ve started a bucket list. It expands …

Sefton Park

Happy Monday! I’m thankful to have one week of classes under my belt! With each passing day I feel a little bit more settled. Daily I learn something new, like the fact that there are no drinking fountains on LHU’s campus or that nobody closes the refrigerator doors in the grocers or that it costs …

Exploring Liverpool’s City Centre

Greetings from Liverpool!  It’s been a week since my parents and little sister dropped me off at the Grand Rapids airport. After two connecting flights, a bleary trek through the Frankfurt airport, and over 30 hours without sleep, I’ve spent the last seven days trying to settle into Aigburth Park, where I will be living …

Returning Home: Final Semester Thoughts

Alas, the semester has come to an end, and I have safely returned to the same time zone as my friends and family. Upon returning, with new memories and pictures stored on my phone, I couldn’t help but be nostalgic about the experiences that have characterized the last few months. I must admit, though it …

SIT Independent Study Project Reflections

As mentioned in a previous post, one of the hallmarks of SIT’s Study Abroad Program is its Independent Study Project (ISP). Since that post, I have officially turned in my paper, closed all of my computer tabs, and paid for my last cup of coffee at Boréal. As you can imagine, it was a bittersweet …