Ines Harouchi

In Spring 2025, I had the incredible opportunity to study abroad at the SU London Center. I took a mix of classes, ranging from requirements for my Economics major to the “Architectural History of London” course, which took us on visits to iconic landmarks across the city. I had such a great time learning from British professors and felt so grateful to have the whole city of London as a classroom for the semester. Through SU, I also got the chance to intern at a market research company on their Data Science team, and I was able to explore British office culture as well as apply the technical skills that I’ve learned on campus to real projects. My favorite part of studying abroad was the endless opportunities to meet new people from different cultures and from all over the world.

One of the reasons why I chose London was because I did not want to experience a language barrier while studying abroad. As a result, I thought that I would have no problem adapting to another English-speaking country, but I was surprised to find out that even though the language is technically the same, there is a lot of slang and cultural behavior that is different. Therefore, I had to adapt to certain customs such as standing on a specific side of the escalators, tube etiquette, and realizing that “Are you alright?” is the British phrase for “How are you?” and not a way to tell you that you look stressed!

This experience allowed me to go outside my comfort zone and study in a foreign environment, where I learned to be independent, curious, and open-minded. I think that studying abroad made me a stronger student in the sense that I gained several new academic and professional skills but also developed critical soft skills like problem-solving and office etiquette. In addition, working at my internship gave me important experience in the analytics field that will allow me to get more opportunities in the States.

My study abroad semester was probably one of my favorite semesters at Syracuse University as I was able to explore a whole new place but also a new side of myself. This helped me realize that London was one of my dream cities to live in, so one of my current plans for further development related to this experience is that I hope to pursue a masters program in London next year!

Receiving an award from Honors was incredibly helpful in supporting me for this experience as I was able to use the money on large costs that might have stood in the way of me going abroad. For example, I was able to use my award to cover the cost of the student visa as well as my roundtrip to London.