Student Spotlight: Kaelen Baly in England
What were the biggest personal challenges you faced during your time abroad, and how did you overcome them?
“During my first month in London, my main challenge was figuring out how to navigate public transportation. Having grown up in suburban Texas, I came to this country with little to no experience involving public transportation, much less with foreign public transit. This was a challenge I anticipated and even embraced early on. However, after time, as I continued to struggle to find my way around, I found myself growing increasingly frustrated with things. I was only able to truly begin to make my way past this barrier when I allowed myself to seem like a foreigner. Up until this point, I was deeply afraid of looking like I didn’t know what I was doing and I feigned competence at every turn. Funnily enough, it seems as though ignoring a problem doesn’t make it go away, a lesson I’ve had to learn and re-learn multiple times.”
What similarities and differences have you experienced between your host culture and your culture?
“One glaring difference I’ve experienced between here and my host culture is that of the approach to travel. I’ve noticed that both on private and public transport, everyone is moving with a PURPOSE. People are moving quickly between trains, taxi drivers are quick to honk at you for any inconvenience, and there is a designated side of the escalator to stand on if you want to walk up it. The general pace of things has taken some getting used to. A similarity I’ve noticed between here and home is the prominence of social resistance. I’ve seen pop-ups and flyers for meetings regarding the advocacy for social reform. I wasn’t aware of the political dynamic here in London, at least as it pertains to racial injustice, however, I’ve seen and heard multiple instances of social galvanization that mirror the dynamic I’ve seen historically in the United States.”
Tell us about an experience where you were out of your comfort zone.
“The biggest risk I’ve taken was getting directly off the plane and taking the tube to get to my housing without any prior knowledge of how it worked. Even when it came to purchasing my initial Oyster card, I wasn’t sure if I was going about anything the correct way, (which is typically a great source of anxiety for me) yet I persisted until I arrived at my destination. The entire train ride, I was deeply uncomfortable, having to navigate a system that was so foreign to me, but I was ultimately rewarded as I arrived at my housing building safely.”