Well it’s done. I’ve been, I’ve seen and I’ve come back. I can honestly say that this was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. I’m a bug traveller but travelling in a university environment with a large group of people whilst engaging academically with the surrounding culture was an experience I doubt I’ll have again. I had planned to visit America in the future, and this trip certainly cemented that idea.
Apart from the specific things on the itinerary that I enjoyed, what I liked the most about the University trip to the USA, was the overall structure. The mix between academic and tourist activities always kept my interest and energy up. I never once felt that I wanted to relax in the hotel or just stay in one place. The free time woven into University planned events was one of the best things about the experience.
As a tourist, my favourite things were quite varied. I’m usually not one for the stereotypical tourist activities (I didn’t even go up the Empire State Building) but Central Park was probably my favourite moment in New York. Meandering around the park with some friends, just having a laugh and soaking in the sun is something I’ll remember for a long time. Other moments I really enjoyed was the famous NY pizza and the walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.
Although MIT was by far my stand out moment of my trip to Boston, the tour of Fenway Park, home of the famous Boston Red Sox, was one of my favourite activities. Although I’m a New York Mets fan myself, just to be able to see a baseball stadium and soak up the history was an exciting moment for a sports fan like myself. I had some amazing times in Boston, I probably enjoyed Boston more than New York in all honesty, and it was things like the New England Aquarium and the Boston Tea Party Museum that really made my trip.
From an academic perspective however, the trip can be seen in a whole new light. The 9/11 memorial museum, for example, was incredibly interesting, both from the academic and the emotional side. To see where it all happened and to engage emotionally with the event is something that I doubt will ever leave my memory. The stand out activity that the university organised has to be the visit to the UN. The initial tour in and out of all the different chambers was really eye opening and it was fantastic to peek into an actual conference on Climate Change that was happening at the time. We also had an absolutely fantastic guest speaker talk to us about a lot of the UN’s projects and his personal beliefs. As someone who would like to go down that sort of path as a career the chance to hear from such a speaker was eye opening.
There were countless things on the trip that were amazing, I’ve made plenty of friends and have an insane amount of pictures to look back on. But for me, the chance to reflect on the trip in two different lights, both as a tourist and academically is probably what made this trip so great. Not only has it fed my appetite for travel, but it’s also given me a chance to enhance my personality through cultural engagement as well as improving my CV. All of this is invaluable and I’m incredibly happy that I ventured out and did it.