British Days: Going Back to England, Pt. 2

It was the fall semester, and surprisingly I didn't think about my decision to not go to England that much. I was too busy with classes to think about that. Life had gone on and I had other things to worry about. But in one of my media studies classes my professor, Dr. Worringham, told us he and Dr. Waite (another media studies professor) was organizing a group of students to go to London for internships.

This was the golden opportunity I had wanted, but ironically it didn't dawn on me at first to take advantage of the opportunity. I had already completed my internship for credit, so I thought I wouldn't qualify to go. But over the course of the semester Dr. Worringham persisted in telling us about the trip to London, but few people in the class showed any enthusiasm about going to London. One day Dr. Worringham reiterated what he had been telling us all semester long: This was a golden opportunity. But this time he said it with some frustration, obviously disappointed with the lack of enthusiasm in the class. That's when I realized some people did an internship after they had walked*, and maybe it was possible I could do another one, even if I had already gotten credit for it.

I approached Dr. Worringham after class, and he told me it was possible that I could do another internship. I was estatic. Although the participants in the program had to be picked by the professors (I overheard someone say they had over 80 applications) I thought I had a good chance of being selected. I was on good terms with all the professors in the media studies department and I was the department's Dean's Scholar, which is the highest academic award a student can achieve on the university level, and I'd been in England twice before, so I knew what to expect. I was almost certain I'd be a shoe-in, and to unsurprisingly I was selected for the program.

Although Middlesex had been a sacrified opportunity this one turned out to be a better one. We stayed with homestays which was great since I had the chance to be immersed in English culture instead of just being a tourist. When you're a tourist you just see a place but you don't get to know it intimately. Also, I got to stay in Muswell Hill--the neighborhood were Ray Davies of The Kinks, one of my favorite songwriters, grew up. The family I stayed with even said they knew Ray; they'd gone to school with The Kinks. And I got to intern at a record label. Things had come full-circle. I had been motivated to go to London because of music, and when I went back for the third time I got to stay in the heart of Kinkdom and intern at a record label. It would be hard for me to wish for anything more. If I had gone to Middlesex it is likely I would have spent my time doing homework, and I would have missed out on a lot. But with this opportunity I didn't have to do any schoolwork, and that allowed me to take full advantage of what London had to offer. Also, when we got to London the first place we went to was Russell Square, a place I'd been to during my first two visits. The familiar gray English sky loomed over the day, and when I looked at London College, the British Musuem, the park in Russell Square for the third time I felt a sense of familiarity, and I thought I'm back. Things had come full circle indeed.

*This is in reference to taking part in the graduation ceremony.