An Adventure Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The consistency of the courses was not what I was expecting: while some classes were great, others were lacking in either intensity or supportive and engaging environments. Unfortunately, I only thought 3 classes were really excellent over both semesters.

On-site administration of your program

Everyone who worked in the administration office was wonderful and friendly.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Living in the Landward was sub-par. Being a college-student, I do not have super high living standards- I'm very used to living in small dorm spaces. However, I do expect things to work. In the landward, everything seemed to be falling apart. The shower doors constantly fell off, i'd come back to the sinks overflowing or the apartment reeking of sulfur, there was black mold in the kitchens and bathrooms, the toilets wouldnt always flush, the kitchens were not properly equipped (we were given dull bread knives, which are extremely dangerous when trying to chop fruits and vegetables, and we were given two mini fridges with no door shelving to store 6 people's groceries), and the mattresses were old and broken with springs coming through. There was also not nearly enough space in these apartments- I was housed in a triple the size of a larger single at sarah lawrence. This means we were constantly bumping into one another and everyone got sick all the time and there was no space to have any privacy except the bathroom, which someone was always occupying. I don't know how circumstantial this is, but i know a lot of my peers, myself included, experienced depression in that building as well. We weren't allowed to put anything on the walls, it was an uncomfortable space to live in, and something was always broken or smelled horrible. I understand that the living conditions for next year are changing, but I thought it important to write down what I experienced in the Landward.

The food itself was fine, my only suggestion is that the cantine stay open later. When we are not allowed to use the office and the cantine only stays open until 2:30, we should have some other option for food/coffee/tea if we are there until 6 or 6:30 every evening. The office did get us a hot water heater in the final weeks of the program but I think it would be a good idea to at least keep a snack or coffee bar open while we are at the school, especially because there is no meal plan with the program.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I really liked living in London once I got adjusted. I just wish BADA's schedule had lent itself more to allowing us to experience London in the beginning of the semester. I felt like I didn't have enough time to see everything or adjust to London as quickly as I would've liked. To help this in the future, I think students should have a week before classes start to get adjusted and settled in to the space and culture before they have to worry about work and class as well. Also I think lists from faculty/administrators or recent students of BADA of recommended stores and pharmacies, phone companies and things to see/what we are close to, would help as well. I felt very lost and overwhelmed when I first arrived and would have loved a handbook or packet of suggestions to start me out in a new city from people who live there or experienced the culture shock before.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I had some initial difficulty with the health care program. Everything was straightened out in the end, but I think my confusion was due to a lack of information given to us in the handbook initially. To help this problem in the future, I would suggest a tutorial about the exact way our health insurance works there. The more specificity and information available to us the better.

I always felt very safe in London. My only slight issue was with the location of the Landward. I felt very fortunate living in central London, however our direct location was right next to a neighborhood of hookah bars, and while it didn't bother me horribly, I would prefer not to have pass men who holler or cat-call to me every night when I walk home.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

London is very expensive, which I knew entering the program. I do feel like I wasnt able to do everything my peers were able to do/ get the most out of the country because of the limited funds I had. I did feel some pressure from the program to see extra shows, which I wasn't able to do- while my peers saw upwards of 5-10 extra shows each semester, I was only able to see 1 extra first semester and 2 second semester. That's purely situational for me, but i did feel left out because of it. A fee i wasn't expecting to pay though, was the cost to travel to the required shows we had to see each week. I think if the school is requiring us to see a show as part of the curriculum we should not have to pay out of pocket to get to the show.

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• Dorm

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• Americans

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• Americans

• living in central london
• getting the experience of working solely on a show for 5 weeks
• the master classes (specifically fiona shaw, henry goodman, and john heffernan)

• communication between sarah lawrence and BADA
• the living situation
• mixing up of student body so it's easier to get to know everyone (i felt the group of people i was with was particularly clique-ie and felt like it was hard to make new friends or meet people outside of the group i was in classes with)

The Nearly Native or Trail Blazer