No Safety Net, No Problem!
What spending my freshman semester in London taught me about freedom, growth, and finding myself far from home.
When I told people I was spending my entire first semester of college in London - not visiting family, not with a tour group, just living there; the reactions were a mix of excitement and quiet concern. "Are you sure you're ready for that?" Looking back, I don't think anyone is ever fully ready. And that's kind of the point.
August 2025. I landed at Heathrow with two suitcases, a shaky Google Maps plan, and zero clue how the Tube worked. No parents visiting until the semester ended. No familiar comfort food waiting in the fridge. No one to tell me when to sleep, what to eat, or how to spend my weekends. For the first time in my life, every single decision was mine.
"Freedom sounds amazing - until you realize it comes with the full weight of responsibility, and there's no one to hand it back to."
The hard part nobody talks about
The first few weeks were genuinely difficult. I had to figure out groceries in a country where the brands were unfamiliar, navigate a transit system with 11 lines and hundreds of stops, and show up to class every morning still adjusting to a new timezone. There was no safety net. No do-overs. I had to problem-solve in real time, every single day.
But here's what I noticed: each small win - figuring out the right bus route, cooking a real meal, making a friend in class - built something in me. Confidence doesn't come from being told you're capable. It comes from proving it to yourself, quietly, when no one is watching.
A classroom without walls
I was studying near University College London, and my coursework - British Media & Society, Cultural Anthropology, Communication & Diversity - came alive in a way textbooks never could have made them. We did class sessions in museums. We went on field trips through the city. London itself was the curriculum. Walking through neighborhoods with centuries of layered history, sitting in lecture halls filled with students from dozens of countries - I absorbed a kind of world perspective that changed how I think about people, culture, and connection.
That diversity wasn't just beautiful to observe. It made me question assumptions I didn't even know I had, and pushed me to listen more than I spoke. For someone who cares deeply about mental health and community - which is the whole reason I started Thriving Times - that was invaluable.
How it ended
I finished the semester with a 3.7 GPA. I'm proud of that number; not just because it looks good on paper, but because of what was happening around it. I earned those grades while navigating a foreign city, managing myself completely, and experiencing one of the most disorienting but expansive chapters of my life. It showed me something about what I'm capable of under pressure.
More than the grades, though, I left London with clarity. About the kind of person I want to be. About the life I want to build; one that keeps making me uncomfortable in the best possible way.
If you're on the edge of a big leap — read this
You don't have to feel ready. Readiness is often just a story we tell ourselves to stay comfortable. Jump anyway.
Small wins compound. Every time you figure something out on your own, you're building a confidence that can't be given to you.
Discomfort is data. The moments that feel the hardest are usually the ones teaching you the most about yourself.
Seek out perspectives different from your own. The world is enormous and generous — let it expand you.
The risk that scares you most is usually worth taking. The version of you on the other side will be grateful you did.
You don't have to move to another country to take a meaningful risk. Maybe it's signing up for that class that intimidates you. Talking to someone new. Starting the thing you've been putting off. The leap looks different for everyone. But I promise - the other side of it is worth it.
London didn't just give me a semester. It gave me a direction. And I can't wait to keep going.