Earlier this summer, I had the opportunity to travel to England and Northern Ireland for the museum studies study abroad trip. I can honestly say that it was one of the best trips of my life and not for the reasons you would expect. Yes, I had the opportunity to see amazing 21st century museums in action. I had the opportunity to see behind the curtain of museums — to learn how curators incorporate the community to advance diversity and inclusion. I also checked off several places from my bucket list that I had never seen before. However,  these wonderful experiences are not what made it so memorable; it was the camaraderie. 

Our fearless navigator, Sarah, got us all over London; however, our trip to Cornelia Street was not our most successful adventure.

There is something special about opportunities that bring people together who probably would not have met otherwise. In this case, 17 people with different majors were thrown together for a two- week trip across the ocean. It makes for quite the experience, including some stressful moments but also many inside jokes and cherished memories. A perfect example: On our first night exploring London, a bunch of us wanted to see iconic landmarks such as Platform 9¾ and Abbey Road. A couple of us are Taylor Swift fans, so we added Cornelia Street — where the singer rented an apartment — to our adventure. By the time we headed toward Cornelia Street we had been away from the hotel for over 12 hours, and jet lag and grouchiness were setting in. As we walked and walked, we realized this seemed like a typical middle class neighborhood. A few of us began to wonder if Taylor Swift lived here. We began to debate if the Cornelia Street in the song was in London or in New York. It was only when we got to the sign that we decided to google it — and learned the Cornelia Street in question is in New York. After that epic fail, we ended up getting lost on the tube for at least 45 minutes, getting on the wrong train twice. At the moment it was frustrating and annoying, but looking back it was one of the funniest moments of the trip. 

For the rest of the trip if one of us messed up directions we would all sing Cornelia Street by Taylor Swift. The little moments really made this trip stand out.