Brown Smith UK 2025

Howdy Brown family! Today we woke up bright and early with an ancient and iconic destination, Stonehenge. After arriving, we took a walk around the stones. We learned some of its facts and history, such as the heel stone following the rays of the sun into the inner stones, and the many burial mounds housing precious items (and many dead people). It was very interesting to see the size and simplicity of design lasting for more than 4,000 years! We took photos in various silly poses - we are tourists after all - and then departed back to the bus. Though some of the stones have fallen over and all share the wear and tear of time, they still remain a visual spectacle of a long gone civilization.

After Stonehenge, we travelled one-and-a-half hours back to London to see Windsor Castle, which is the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world. As the official residence of the King of England and museum, the castle showcased impressive architecture valued at $675 million. In fact, as the sun never set on the British Empire, the castle presented a magnificent array of gifted relics such as tiger masks to samurai uniforms from India and Japan, respectively. Unfortunately, we were unable to take pictures inside the King’s residence and St. George’s Chapel, which was where Queen Elizabeth II was buried. However, I believe pictures would have been unable to capture the grandeur of architecture, as each doorknob to candelabra appeared meticulously designed.

Once we made it back from Windsor Castle, we split up into groups for the evening and said goodbye to Mr. Brown and Ms. Smith. With an 11:30 p.m. curfew, my group ventured out to Chinatown. Taking the tube, walking the busy streets, and trying the food was so much fun! We shopped around and got to try bao, dumplings, noodles, and even Taiyaki! We also met two very friendly British men who recommended a dish at our dinner - it was delicious! Our evening was full of laughter and conversation, and it was great getting to know everyone better! One of the best moments of the night was when JZ saw a fallen ice cream on the ground, and began to mourn its loss. Our entire group was doubled over in laughter. We may have been tired, but the walk back to the hotel was full of fun!

Tomorrow, we’ll be spending our day touring London! We can’t wait for the rest of this amazing trip!
Thanks and Gig ‘em!

-Ken, Divya, and Nicholas N

Howdy! Today was our first full-day in London! We started off the day with an early breakfast, with half of us eating at 6:30 a.m. and the other half at 7:30 a.m.. Then, we got a brief tour of our surrounding areas and the Tube. We learned about the train system and how to use our Oyster cards. We then got to Richmond American University London for our class on the history of British music  just to be greeted with a surprise – Mr. Brown and Ms. Smith!! They attended class with us, in which we listened to songs ranging from The Beatles to MIA and learned about British Pop history and the influence other cultures and countries had on its development. Following this, most of us went to Chipotle to get the familiar sense of home in a new, bustling city.

To help us build connections to our lecture material, we visited important locations for the development of British music. The tube was a completely new experience, filled with the stress of keeping the group together, yet a fun venture. On our way, we stopped by iconic London locations like Soho, Bond Street, Carnaby Street, and Abbey Road. We had a blast mimicking The Beatles album cover walking past Abbey Road. 

Here is a full list of what we explored:

• Houses of George Frideric Handel and Jimi Hendrix
• Carnaby Street– a fashion hub. British music emphasized outfits and visuals.
• Location of the album cover for Ziggy Stardust.
• The building on whose roof the Beatles played their last performance.
• Abbey Road
• Royal Academy of Art, which had an open summer exhibit as well
• Kensington Borough– where we saw flea markets and other important musical landmarks. It is the location of “Jamaican sound system” performances.
• Notting Hill and the book store that was in the movie (Notting Hill) as well

After the tour of London’s musical hubs and landmarks, we made our way back to the hotel for much needed rest and showers. At 7 p.m. we made our way to Bill’s for a Brown Scholar Dinner. Although Mr. Brown and Ms. Smith could not make it, we had a blast eating through starters, entrees and drinks. After two hours of fun and talking with our friends and other scholars, some of us went our own ways for dessert. A few of us went to Cream for gelato while others opted for boba from MooMoo’s!

Howdy!

Today, we woke up early to leave for our day trip to York and travel to the ultimate destination of our trip— the great city of London. We began our day by checking out of the Pollock Halls of Residence and taking a bus to Waverley Station. Goodbye, University of Edinburgh!

On the train ride to York, everyone caught up on some much needed sleep and enjoyed the last views of Edinburgh. Once we reached York, we dropped off our bags and started our walking tour around York!

We began by crossing the Ouse River (pronounced ooze) while learning about its impact on York’s historic wool trade. As we walked through town, our tour guide pointed out various ruins. There were remnants of the Roman city wall and pillars, as well as stone caskets that once had military officers. We also strolled past the remains of abbeys and monasteries as the tour guide told us how King Henry VIII destroyed these buildings to fund his expensive tastes for lavish armour and grand castles. Next, we walked along the old city walls and saw gorgeous views of the York Minster from all sides. This beautiful cathedral is the largest Gothic-style cathedral in Europe, and though we did not get the chance to go inside, I can only imagine the grandeur and detail of the stained glass windows.

Following our guided walking tour, we went to the Jorvick Viking Center where we took a guided ride and learned about the Viking lifestyle, food habits, and history. At the museum, we viewed skeletal remnants of a Viking woman and learned about the currency system of the Vikings. Apparently coins could be split into halves and quarters to account for change! One coin was approximately a farmer’s monthly salary, and it could get you 16 chickens or a small pig during that time.

During our free time we grabbed lunch and walked through the Shambles, a street that York claims inspired Diagon Alley in Harry Potter. Victoria Street in Edinburgh also claims this honor, but I personally think the Shambles encapsulates the rustic, cramped atmosphere described in the books and movies. The street itself was narrow and lined with small shops like Monk Bar Chocolatiers, where most of the Brown Scholars took chocolate shots (no alcohol included, of course)! On this street, “The Shop that Must Not Be Named” is the only official Harry Potter store outside London, and J.K. Rowling herself helped establish it.

While our time in York was very short (only about 4 hours), we were determined to make the most of it! On the train ride to London, many students played cards to pass the time. Finally, we arrived at our accommodations for the next week and began our adventures in London!

Gig ‘em!
Pranali, Rachel, and Devkumar

Howdy! It was another beautiful day in Edinburgh, Scotland. Today was our last day of class at the University! We finished off our course on leadership and sustainability with our project presentations. In the past few days, each group of students has put together either a social action campaign, social enterprise, or intrapreneurship presentation to demonstrate and use leadership skills discussed and developed through the week’s program. We are extremely grateful for all of the University faculty’s effort in teaching us this past week, especially Professor Hermiston’s guidance throughout the final stages of our projects. 

Today was the culmination of all our work and learning from the week. Each group aimed to solve a variety of local issues including tackling homelessness through vocational training schools and job placement, creating awareness of the inadequate pay for grad students through a podcast, protecting both cars and animals from road kill with new driving software, creating a donut shop for people with diabetes, and increasing bicycle and pedestrian greenspace at Texas A&M. These projects were so much fun to create and present and really showed us how collaboration makes larger impacts achievable. 

After presentations, we reflected on the three roles in our ideation process: the dreamer, the realist, and the critic. We found these three responsibilities work together as a group to fulfill specific niches and contribute to an overall well-rounded project. These projects also allowed us to practice public speaking and presenting in groups, pushing aside nervousness and presenting in a clear, concise manner to sell our pitches.

After a long morning of hard work and presenting, we finally had lunch (provided by the university): sandwiches, wraps, fruit, brownies (very good), and soda. 

The final celebration of our hard work this week in Scotland was the Graduation ceremony (we did it!!!!). We received certificates of completion and got to take pictures with our wonderful professor, Ms. Susan, thanking her for all her instruction throughout this past week.

Then we dispersed for our “talk back” with Dr. Nic, one of Texas A&M’s finest faculty members, and a true patriot of public speaking. We reflected on how working together as groups went. We all seemed to share the same sentiment about how grateful we were to have a group where all members contributed to the task and were motivated to complete the mission instead of slacking off. We had conversations about what it means to be selfish (which uncovered no real dichotomy between selfishness and selflessness– kinda crazy). 

To cap off the day, we went our separate ways! Some went to the food festival to eat gelato, fried chicken, dumplings, etc. Others went to the meadows to play football and frisbee. 

Finally, we came back to the university for dinner (because we need all the free meals we can get) and finished off the night with some card games and a birthday celebration for Aryan (yay eighteen!!! Everyone says Whisky!)

See y’all in London!!

-Charles, Rian, & Cami

Howdy!

Today was the penultimate day of classes here at the University of Edinburgh, and that can only mean one thing – preparing for presentations! But before that happened, we had a brief chat with Dr. Nic about the distinctions between strength, force, and power. It all tied into what we had been learning in class, regarding how to be the best leader possible. On the topic of leadership, everything we have learned in class up to this point regards leading for a sustainable future, and this project is the culmination of our learning. We are using what we learned to propose a way to make a difference in our community, and the overarching methods of initiating change are through a social enterprise, social action, or intrapreneurship.

This morning, each group gave an elevator pitch of their project, outlining which of the three methods of change they would use, and providing a rough idea of the steps they would take to accomplish it. The creativity within the group is impressive, with teams proposing anything from advocating for policy change all the way to donut shops to accomplish their mission. 

For lunch, everyone tried out some fantastic food spots throughout Edinburgh, from a Scottish Subway to a huge food festival with every cuisine imaginable.

Following the morning elevator pitches, it was crunch time. Each group prepared a roughly 20-minute presentation in a matter of 3.5 hours. During the time crunch, we had some teams play music for everyone while we worked and enjoyed the process! Everyone was able to finish in time to do a practice presentation with Ms. Hermiston, where she gave valuable feedback regarding making our presentations more concise and coherent. After adapting the powerpoint based on her recommendations, we had a few hours remaining to enjoy the day, which meant different things for different people. 

After class, we split up and tried tons of different things. Some of us bonded by playing ultimate frisbee at the local park, some took a trip to Baskin Robbins, some tried a Scotland-exclusive flavor of iced tea at Starbucks, and we all had dinner together at the dining hall. 

Some students also decided to climb Arthur’s peak again, enjoying the phenomenal views of Edinburgh. Another group made a trip to Victoria Street, a beautiful area that inspired Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter series.