London Study Experience
The Beeson Scholars program afforded me the opportunity of a lifetime (really) to spend a semester of my Samford career living in London. I had the opportunity to take several classes on British culture, theatre, and music, and intern with a ridiculous doctor to add to my premedical experience. The Daniel House, in Kensington (the wealthiest borough in the entire UK), is an incredible place to live, in the perfect location just 10 minutes walk from Kensington Palace and Hyde Park or 10 minutes on the tube (the London Underground Subway) from Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and West End theatres. It truly is the jewel in Samford's crown opening to door for students to have an incredible experience witnessing London, the world's most international city, and creating an avenue to explore all of Europe.
A few highlights from my trip:
I had the opportunity to visit 16 different countries during weekend trips and travel breaks. Over the course of my semester "in London," I actually spent almost 40 days in other parts of Europe - Paris, Venice, Athens, Barcelona, Edinburgh, Dublin, Amsterdam, Vienna, Zurich, Cologne, Prague, Brussels, Luxembourg...just to name a few cities.
I saw 15 different plays in that many different venues all over London, most of which were for my Theatre Appreciation class, including Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Wicked, and War Horse.
I have an incredible new family of 18 students (5 Beeson Scholars) and three professors with whom I shared a 6-story townhouse for 4 months and countless stories from trips, daily London excursions, and hilarious intercultural "complications."
The Beeson Scholarship is an unfathomable blessing that has allowed me an incredible education at Samford, definitely highlighted by my semester abroad. Wow...it's been awesome!
- Elliott Dansby, Beeson Scholar
