I had a steep list of stops for my final days in London. After work on Tuesday, I met a friend at Kings Cross to get a photo of Platform 9 ¾, the famous hidden entrypoint to the train which brings students to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. To my surprise, a few hundred other Harry Potter fans had that same idea! There was a large “queue” to take a photo with the platform, so my friend and I stayed to the side and decided to check out the gift shop instead. On Wednesday, a few of us ventured out to see the London Eye in its glory at night. Though the ride itself is closed after 8 PM, it is spectacularly lit up red for passerby throughout the evening. We stood on Westminster Bridge and soaked in the peace of night time on the Thames. We finally got a nice view of Big Ben – lit up as well! I was disappointed to have not seen the Eiffel Tower at night, but this sight made up for it. Continue Reading

This week began with a pop cultural experience in watching the finale of the famous UK summer reality TV show called Love Island. This program airs every night at 9 PM during the summer months, and thus the finale had long been anticipated! My flatmates and I had watched a couple episodes and decided to enjoy the fun. It was a nice break from writing the two papers that were due that week. We had one final class relating to our internship experiences Wednesday night after work. It was a long day, but beneficial to reflect and share in a group setting on our varied experiences. Continue Reading

During my second week of my internship at Arden, I worked on various projects that carried over from week one. Mostly, I finished a presentation that analyzed various direct and indirect competitors’ digital foundation finder tools. I was able to offer recommendations for best practice for our company in implementing this new digital feature. One project I will continuously work on is a foundation analysis on two relevant competitors for an upcoming new product launch. A fun experience this week was using my employee discount in the office’s weekly opening of their corporate shop. My flatmates have since asked me to buy things for them at the store. They have various work benefits as well, as one of my friends was able to get us free pizzas one night because she does finance for Pizza Pilgrims. Continue Reading

Week 5 marked the start of my internship for Elizabeth Arden. I have absolutely loved my experience so far! I am doing marketing for the Elizabeth Arden brand in their makeup and skincare sectors. Continue Reading

My final week of class was packed with projects, papers, and an exam. We had two field trips to the Library of Things and the Little Bee Community. The Library of Things was a space where a range of rentable items from practical household appliances to ukeles were housed. This business was created as an attempt to foster a neighborhood community while being sustainable and reducing consumerism waste in society. At the Little Bee Community we listened to a team of individuals discuss investment in socially responsible startups. Continue Reading

I started off my third week by meeting a friend who lives in London. Georgie was an exchange student at UConn in the Fall 2017 and Spring 2018 semesters and joined my sorority Gamma Phi Beta. It was great to catch up with her and laugh over my deepened cultural understanding of the UK. We hung out in the wealthy area of Hampstead right outside of London. She explained that London is similar to cities in the U.S. in terms of wealthy business people dwelling in quaint neighborhoods and suburbs directly outside of the city, such as Hampstead, to avoid both the craziness of the city and a long commute. Continue Reading

In my second week, I was able to check a lot of tourist attractions off of my bucket list in London. We started by attending an Eid festival that the Mayor of London organized in the populated Trafalgar Square. From there, we wandered to the beautiful Westminster Abbey and Big Ben, which is currently under construction. Here, we ended up in an anti-Brexit rally! It was very interesting to see the political unrest that we were learning about in class up-close and personally. Continue Reading

My first week in London was a whirlwind! We arrived early Saturday morning and the jet lag hit everyone harder than expected. I was struck by the quaint beauty of London even though it is such a big city. Continue Reading