I know you are probably wondering what the Royal Imperial Quadrangle is. When I say it is a bar and hangout spot on the campus of the Royal Imperial College I’m sure that you are thinking, “a bar, for tourist with a purpose? Now that’s classy.” Well, to me, this is one of the most important things that I could experience on my study abroad trip to London.
Coming through college, a big part of what we are taught is to think on a global scale. With the world becoming more and more interconnected, this idea of a global community is becoming even more popular. So, to get an inside look into what students, who are going through the same things that I am back home, are thinking and participating in seems to be a wonderful opportunity for me. Come to find out, the students here are almost identical to the students back home. Maybe it is part of human nature for people around the age of twenty or so to begin to question everything that is going on around them? Maybe it is simply the university system that asks them to? Whatever it is, I was incredibly surprised to discover the similarities of both cultures.
The first thing that I noticed was that people formed groups, which is not too surprising seeing that we back home in the States are very group polarizing. It was hard to initiate conversation with people because they were already into their set groups, but once I got in to their group, the likeness to college students in America was eerie. I found out that both sets of students think and discuss relatively the same topics.
I know we were advised not to discuss politics and religion, but it almost seemed like the natural flow in conversation to head that way. Even in America, you cannot have a conversation with a new group of people without delving into the infinitely opinionated box that is religion and politics. It only took an hour or so and we were already there; I couldn’t have been more thrilled. My friend group back home is very opinionated in regards to religion and politics, but the thing that makes me attracted to them as friends, is that they see every opinion as a viable option rather that disregard it as an absurdity if it is not their own. It seemed like the people here, I know I am working off of a very small sample, felt the same way, almost more so than the average college student back home. Regardless, it was an eye opening experience to get to delve into the lives of kids here that are doing the exact same thing I am doing back home. The similarities present a powerful claim into the understanding of human nature. Maybe there is an underlying code in the maturity of the human brain. Maybe I talked to the right people at the right time.
Coming through college, a big part of what we are taught is to think on a global scale. With the world becoming more and more interconnected, this idea of a global community is becoming even more popular. So, to get an inside look into what students, who are going through the same things that I am back home, are thinking and participating in seems to be a wonderful opportunity for me. Come to find out, the students here are almost identical to the students back home. Maybe it is part of human nature for people around the age of twenty or so to begin to question everything that is going on around them? Maybe it is simply the university system that asks them to? Whatever it is, I was incredibly surprised to discover the similarities of both cultures.
The first thing that I noticed was that people formed groups, which is not too surprising seeing that we back home in the States are very group polarizing. It was hard to initiate conversation with people because they were already into their set groups, but once I got in to their group, the likeness to college students in America was eerie. I found out that both sets of students think and discuss relatively the same topics.
I know we were advised not to discuss politics and religion, but it almost seemed like the natural flow in conversation to head that way. Even in America, you cannot have a conversation with a new group of people without delving into the infinitely opinionated box that is religion and politics. It only took an hour or so and we were already there; I couldn’t have been more thrilled. My friend group back home is very opinionated in regards to religion and politics, but the thing that makes me attracted to them as friends, is that they see every opinion as a viable option rather that disregard it as an absurdity if it is not their own. It seemed like the people here, I know I am working off of a very small sample, felt the same way, almost more so than the average college student back home. Regardless, it was an eye opening experience to get to delve into the lives of kids here that are doing the exact same thing I am doing back home. The similarities present a powerful claim into the understanding of human nature. Maybe there is an underlying code in the maturity of the human brain. Maybe I talked to the right people at the right time.
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