July 16th
Travel Day kicked off with meeting all 45 beautiful Brown Scholars during group check-in. Spirits were high, and the excitement was real. Of course, Alex came in like a boss after a stupid comment in the GroupMe (just Alex btw). After hanging out for a couple of hours, we boarded the plane, running purely on adrenaline. Sleep? None. But arriving in London with new friends made it totally worth it.
Travel Day Part 2 was its own adventure. We experienced the, "Train of Terror," firsthand and got to see the local impact of construction worker strikes when the train to Edinburgh couldn’t move for an hour due to "signaling" problems. Still, King’s Cross and the Central London sights more than made up for it—very cool. Arriving in Scotland, we have to admit it’s pretty—at least from an objective point of view. Jetlag, though, has a certain way about it... crushing the soul of a man and luring him into a false dream. During our free time, we played poker and took the greatest shower of our lives (dorm be dorming, for real). And with that, WELCOME TO EUROPE: NO AC, NO STILL WATER, AND NO SPIKEBALL.
July 17
Our first day of Class started strong. In the Day 1 morning session, we explored what it means to be a leader through a variety of activities. We spent time identifying key leader attributes in historical figures, then dove into identifying good leaders vs bad leaders using Legos. Things heated up during a spirited debate over the age-old conflict: Useless Managers vs Incompetent Leaders. We wrapped it all up with a classic game of ultimate Frisbee.
The Day 1 afternoon session’s content consisted of the concepts surrounding sustainability and the importance of maintaining nature. Following the lecture, perhaps sensing we were engineering students, the lecturer assigned us a mandated activity to be one with nature (AKA touch grass). In the process, we learned how to engage hands, heart, and mind, cementing the importance of responsible consumption.
So, to recap the beginning of our trip, we leave you with a quote from our class’s majority favorite leader, Winston Churchill. “Tact is the ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip.” We’re just kidding—we genuinely enjoyed all of it and look forward to continuing to touch grass, learn about ourselves and the environment, and master how to say, “A Bottle of Water,” with enough British pizzazz.
Love,
Uh Bo’oh of wo’oh
Alex, Abhi, and Zach