For St. Ambrose senior Sam Jones, studying abroad is not just an opportunity to briefly step inside another culture. It is a chance to scope out a future home.
Last semester, Jones decided to take classes at Queen Mary University of London and explore London and its surrounding. Since he is a theatre, history, and art history triple major, London was an ideal fit for him with its wide variety of museums and theatrical performances. His favorite play was The Ferryman, which he saw twice.
Jones had studied abroad before with the St. Ambrose Theatre Department, including a trip to London in 2014 and a trip to Ireland in 2016.
"I have wanted to work in London ever since I came to St. Ambrose," Jones said. "London has an incredible amount of museums, and I saw over 30 shows. There is a lot of really good, new theatre being produced."
Study Abroad Theatre-Style
Sam Jones still had many opportunities to explore even though he took two theatre classes and two history classes for 15 credits. Since they were scheduled back-to-back, he only had seminars and lectures once per week and not much homework. So, he took day trips around London and went to some street markets full of vendors of all kinds. He also had a week off during which he had the opportunity to visit Amsterdam and Paris for the first time and Dublin for the second time.
Throughout the trip, Jones stayed in the dorms at the university. He often made his own food to save money since one U.S. dollar only equals 0.81 euros.
"I had to be better with my money," Jones said. "It was also hard to care about school. You are distracted by a million different things because there is so much out there to do."
Jones hopes to travel more in the next couple years. His end goal is to work in London with his long-time friend, Jordan McGinnis.
"It's a good experience to go out and be part of another culture," Jones said. "It makes you have to adapt in a way that is really important to being a good person in our society."
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