Category Stories: Racial and Ethnic Identity
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Being Black and Muslim in London
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Studying in a foreign environment, as exciting as it is, can be a little daunting. For students who identify as members of marginalized groups, transitioning can be even more difficult. As I was preparing to study abroad, I remember hearing that only 5% of Black students travelled abroad, and I found this statistic to be…
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Engaging in Uncomfortable Discussions about Race
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In London, I’ve experienced similar challenges with micro-aggressions (aka “casual racism”) as I have in the U.S. Like the United States, the UK has its own set of racial tensions that inhabit college campuses and the greater London community. In the conversations that I have had with other students of color, similar sentiments about the…
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Coming Out: The Abroad Edition
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I have always felt uncomfortable about the phrase “coming out” because of the inherent implication about there being a “normal” or “standard” sexuality, while others are regarded as “other” or “strange.” This past summer, I had to wrestle with this concept. I spent a lot of time thinking about my own sexuality. After many conversations…
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The Invisible Identity Survival Guide
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There’s always a lot on students’ minds when studying abroad, from general worries to specific.I want to keep in touch with family…but will people judge me if my calls home are in Spanish?I’m worried about getting lost…what happens if I have a sensory meltdown?I hope I make friends here… but what if they ask me…
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5 Things to Do in London if You’re Jewish
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While there are plenty of stories of Christian students going abroad and strengthening their faith, there are not nearly so many about Jewish students. It was partially this lack of Jewish narratives and partially my strong connection with the Hillel house on my home campus which motivated me to write specifically for Jewish study abroad…
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Diversity in London: A Black and White Perspective
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As a white student studying at Queen Mary, University of London, one of the things I have noticed is that a huge portion of students on campus are, well, not white. Compared with my home university, Trinity College in Hartford, CT where 35.7% of students are non-white, more than 50% of QMUL’s students are non-white. One…
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For the Student Activist Abroad
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By January of my sophomore year, I was feeling emotionally and physically drained. It was almost as if all of the energy I had mustered over a lifetime had been sucked out of me by my academic and social situations, as well as the political climate. I had been working over twenty hours a week,…
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What is it Like Studying Abroad While Studying Abroad?
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Exploring Racial and Ethnic Identity as an International Student Studying Abroad Studying abroad can be a very exciting, yet daunting experience. I’ve always had wanderlust and thus knew I had to study abroad. As a British international student pursuing an undergraduate degree for the last three years in the United States, I knew that was…
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Heritage Speakers in the Land of Porteños
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While many IFSA-Butler students in Buenos Aires learned Spanish in schools, a good number have been speaking it as a heritage or native language. I wanted to find out what it’s like as a native or heritage Spanish speaker on IFSA-Butler’s Argentine Universities Program, so I talked to my classmates about their experiences. The following are excerpts…
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From Foreign to Local: A Story of a Young Immigrant
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I met Jeannie at the University College London international students orientation. I was sitting on a bench in the UCL main building waiting for the twelve o’clock campus tour. Jeannie came up to me and asked if I was also going on the campus tour. I replied with an affirmative answer and we introduced ourselves.…
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