It was nighttime in London when Cathleen O’Hare decided to get her fourth tattoo.

Then a junior broadcast and digital journalism major, O’Hare was abroad for the semester and saw the city lights reflected on the River Thames. Looking out the window of her Uber car, she said she was enchanted by the city.

That May, a week before she had to fly back home to New York, O’Hare got a simple tattoo of the London skyline on her ribcage. Spending last semester in London changed her life, she said.

Before going abroad, O’Hare had never been outside the U.S.

Although she was nervous before her flight, once she arrived in London, everything fell into place. She quickly became friends with three locals, and through them, got to go to underground clubs and bars that were, as they described it, the real London.

Living in London was like living in a fantasy world. Her rent was low, she lived in a beautiful flat in the West End and her classes were amazing, she said.

It was sometimes difficult to balance being a student and being abroad, though. When choosing between studying and going to a pub with friends, the pub would often win.

“Still, it is study abroad, so studying comes first,” she said, continuing that after taking a course that examined America from a foreign perspective, she will never see her home country the same way again.

When the time came to leave, O’Hare said, the transition was incredibly difficult. She felt out-of-place returning to live with her parents and working at a concession stand for the summer.

“It was really hard to say goodbye, because not only are you saying goodbye to people, but you’re saying goodbye to memories,” she said.

Once she graduates this May, O’Hare has considered moving back to England; she’s even going to visit this December to see her friends.

“I will never not love London,” O’Hare said.

Published on October 20, 2015 at 12:01 am

Contact: emmichae@syr.edu