LSE Summer School: From moments to memories!

My Time at LSE summer school

Article by- Ashna Sachdev

This summer I went to London School of Economics and Political Science for summer school. As expected, for anyone who hadn’t travelled or lived all alone before, it would be an intimidating experience.

Simple things like getting waffles from Bubblewrap in Chinatown to doing my own laundry became unforeseen adventures. The first Friday there, I went to lunch with two people from my class. We got Pizza then made plans to go explore the city. Stefi, a really nice and amazing person from the Philippines, Shishir, someone I’d befriended the day before in class, from Dubai, (He pronounced Dubai as Dubaaai!) and I randomly decided in the tube where to get off to explore.

We ended up going to Liverpool Street, Kings Cross and the Tower Bridge with small stops on the way. One of Shishir’s best friends, Ashwin, from Switzerland, ended up joining us along the way. Little did I know, I would become very good friends with these strangers within a span of a few hours. The entire trip was amazing, but a few days stood out from the rest. This day, the day I did laundry and the day I had an Amandes croissant at Paul will always be impressed in my memory.

Another day that stood out was the day I met Hunar and Harsh. Hunar was an eccentric girl from Chandigarh who made my time there a hundred times more incredible than otherwise.  Harsh was a really nice person who was safety conscious and rightly so. By some twist of fate we all lived at the same student accommodation near the Westminster Bridge. Over the next few days, I became really close to them and we hung out after class. Unfortunately, we were studying different programmes.

One evening after an early dinner, Hunar, Harsh and I were hanging out in the common room. We decided to get something to eat but obviously all eateries were closed by then so we crossed the Westminster Bridge, went across the Thames and got Chocolate Milk at a local grocery store that was luckily still open. It was a crazy night. We danced near the London Eye, clicked so many pictures, talked and just lived in the moment. Later, some more friends joined us. Sadly, we all had lectures in the morning so we cut the party short and went back to the dorm like good kids. The dorm became ‘home’ for all of us and we called it such.

picture by: Harsh Mungalpara

I took a management course called MG 209, Bargaining and Negotiating.  The teachers divided us into groups and gave us issues to negotiate over in the afternoon classes. The class exercises really made us think creatively to come up with integrative solutions and agreements so all parties in the negotiation ‘won.’ Sometimes, the discussions got heated, really amusing or really difficult. One time, I negotiated with this wonderful woman from Barbados, called Malvika. She and I ended up being good friends even outside of class. She told me about her life back in Barbados and how the cultures differed. A couple of days later, she invited me to dinner to a Vietnamese restaurant. I hadn’t eaten Vietnamese food before. Even food became an adventure. Figuring out where to eat next and with whom, were learning experiences as well. Finding fantastic places to eat was not a problem. Yelp and Google Maps were life savers. I ended up trying bubble tea for the first time and fell in love with it. The chewy tapioca pearls with chocolate milk tea were the perfect combination.

Trafalgar Square and Covent Garden became my favourite hangout spots. I met people from all over the world within three weeks and learnt about different cultures, how to live alone and how to help myself in times of confusion or distress. The trick was to ask, ask, ask. (And google!)

I can proudly say I am friends with people from all over the world! Hallie, an exceptional girl from Hong Kong, Nicole, a fabulous woman from Brazil, and I went to lunch to Nandos. The person at the cash counter complemented Nicole’s manicure. She had painted her nails pink and they looked terrific. A couple of girls from class and I asked Nicole if she would teach us how to put eye liner perfectly and do a proper make up tutorial with us! Hallie and I discussed about everything under the Sun. I got to know different perspectives of people from across the globe.

Sakshi , Vidushi, Ananya, Kanha,  Manroop,  Rohan, Devika, Yatika, Disha, Priya, Pratik, Hardik, Akshit, Mahima, Priya, Raunaq, Ty, Mun Ling, Charmaine, Shweta, Abhishek and Shannon were people I wish I had known before. I even reconnected with people from school; Sarthak, Parth and Shiv. Hiten was a nice and fun person from Mumbai who helped me figure out the laundry system. The washer and the dryer started only after scanning the QR code of the machine. Figuring out the app, the amount of detergent to add, to what setting to put the machines on were more fun with friends. A mundane task like doing my laundry became a story to tell.

I loved my time at LSE Summer School and in London. Anybody who gets the opportunity to go must go. The kind of exposure and increased self-confidence I returned back home with are unbelievable.