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Harlaxton Day 8: Last day in London!

July 29, 2019 | 2019 Harlaxton, 2019-2020, Avatars, Study Abroad, Usman Salim | No Comments

The day that I simultaneously dreaded, and was thrilled for, ever since I landed in England a week before. I was thrilled because it was our last day in London! From here, we would go on to stay in Harlaxton Manor and see even more of the amazing country that is England. On the other hand, I dreaded it because, well, it was our last day in London. From exploring the city with help from the tube, to seeing iconic landmarks, to eating some of the best food I’ve ever had, the week had been a truly spectacular experience, and I was not ready for it to end so soon.

In honor of our last day, I wanted to go out with a bang and do as much as one could in one day. The weather had a different plan as the 101o forecast was expected to break the record for the single hottest day in the nation’s history, but I was not about to let that deter me from seeing more of the city I’ve enjoyed so much.

Because of the heat in our typical classroom, we had class at the expansive British Museum, where I conferenced with my professors about an upcoming essay that had been assigned. After leaving the museum, my group headed to the Camden Town markets because no trip to London is complete without hitting the markets at least once.

From there, we took the tube to Buckingham Palace, which is even more breathtaking in person. The beautiful architecture, the adorned gates, the gold-plated statue in front of the palace all left me in awe. I didn’t get to see any of the royal family (which I knew was a long shot to begin with, but you never know) but that didn’t make it any less of an experience.

While we were at the palace, we made plans to see Tower Bridge. Unfortunately, we confused it with London Bridge and ended up seeing Tower Bridge from far in the distance at London Bridge (oops!). But there was no time to correct this mistake as it was time to meet up with the rest of my classmates at the Globe Theatre for a showing of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s dream!

The play was amazing, hilarious, everything you would want and more! It took the classic Shakespearean comedy and put some humorous modern twists on it, making it very entertaining and engaging.

By the time the play had concluded, it was late, and most restaurants were closed, except for some fast food chains. Thus, we ended the night with a mighty feast of the most British food one could eat: McDonald’s!

As I write this, I am sitting on the coach that is taking us to Harlaxton Manor (which is where we will be staying for the remainder of this trip), looking back at this past week’s memories and eager for the next two weeks. My biggest take away from this? London town truly is an amazing place filled with rich culture and history, and I cannot wait to return here someday.

Usman

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Harlaxton Day 6: Wellcome Collection, British Library, and more!

July 28, 2019 | 2019 Harlaxton, 2019-2020, Avatars, Lorenzo Mahoney, Study Abroad | No Comments

Heading out in the morning from our residence hall, we bypassed our usual classroom in favor of more explorative ventures at the Wellcome Collection and the British Library. Wellcome featured exhibitions on the history of magic and collections of artifacts related to human health. On display was Darwin’s walking stick, Napoleon’s toothbrush, and even an Ecuadorian shrunken head.

The British Library had some of the most important pieces in the island’s long history, including Jane Austen’s desk, lyric workings by John Lennon, and the Magna Carta. Getting to see these legendary pieces was definitely not something I will forget and a great educational use our class time while in London.

Afterward, we were off to explore London ourselves by heading south towards the Thames. Now, no visit to England would be complete without some scrumptious minced beef pies, so we stopped at a local shop, and the pies were so tasty that my friends and I questioned why there weren’t just as prevalent in the States. Nevertheless, we made it to the river and got to walk around must-see London spots like Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and the Tower of London. Hopping across the iconic Tower Bridge, we cooled off by heading to the Borough Market, where vendors were selling local meats, cheeses, and pastries all under the shade of the train tracks above.

Taking a quick break at our dorms, we decided to set out for dinner. One of the best things to do in London is simply set out in a direction and wait for something to catch your eye in the big city. After walking around, our group finally decided to try some authentic ramen. Needless to say, it was much more complex and flavorful than what most kids who live on a college campus are familiar with. After another eventful and jam-packed day, we wound down with our new nightly tradition. First, a visit to the 24-hour Tesco (Britain’s much-condensed equivalent to Walmart) for Jaffa Cakes and then our residence hall’s own Foosball table for air conditioning and healthy competition. With 13 miles walked, this day certainly was one where we made the most of our time seeing what makes London such an incredible city.

-Lorenzo

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Harlaxton Day 5: Bath

July 27, 2019 | 2019 Harlaxton, 2019-2020, Avatars, Dalton Richardson, Study Abroad | No Comments

Today was quite the day. When I got up, I did not have much time until it was time to get on the bus for the town of Bath. The bus ride was around two and a half hours but did not feel that long at all. Bath was obviously much smaller than London but seemed decently big. All of the buildings we passed by seemed quite old, and the roads were quite small too. By the time we all got off the bus, it was probably around 11:30 AM. We walked down the small streets until we arrived at the park. The park was small and consisted mainly of just an open field where we sat down to have our sack lunches. Lunch went by quite quickly, and then they had us on the move again as we walked towards the center of town. As we got closer and closer to our destination, it got more crowded. Then we turned a corner, and a square with a massive cathedral came into view. Our destination was not the Cathedral though, it was the roman baths next to it. I walked around the baths in Bath. Looking at the ancient baths and the ruins of the once-great Roman structure was fascinating. Afterward, a few friends and I had a few hours to spare and spent them walking around the city of Bath.

We went to a small café, got some ice cream, and generally just enjoyed the excellent weather as we walked around to town. After a few hours, we were back on the bus for London. Once back, a few friends and I decided to go get some food at a Korean BBQ restaurant. Every table had a grill on it, and you had to cook your food yourself. It was a lot of fun being able to talk to a bunch of friends while cooking the meat yourself. After, we walked around London for a little bit and got some ice cream. Finally, we headed home exhausted and played a few rounds of foosball before going to bed. Overall it was a great day, and one of the most memorable I have had in England so far.

Dalton

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Harlaxton Day 4: Sherlock Holmes and The Cereal Killer Cafe

July 26, 2019 | 2019 Harlaxton, 2019-2020, Avatars, Maggie Gossage, Study Abroad | No Comments

My morning in London started off with a cup of yogurt, a couple pieces of “streaky” bacon, and a heaping mug of hot tea. After breakfast at our residence hall, my classmates and I headed off to class. Class today consisted of picking apart “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning, and discussing my favorite assigned reading, “Gifted.” Discussion on “My Last Duchess” was definitely the highlight of class for me. Through analyzing the poem line-by-line, we drew some intriguing conclusions about the content of the poem and shared a lot of laughs while doing it.

After class was over, I headed back to our residence hall, ready to prepare for the rest of the day. My group decided to head down to the Sherlock Holmes Museum. Although I have never read the books, the museum proved to be quite interesting. The tour guides were dressed in Victorian Era clothing, and the home was set up to the specific details presented in the novels. As I walked through the museum, I saw old medicine bottles, the letters “V R” shot into the wall, and some… interesting looking wax figures, to say the least.

When we left the museum, we decided to hop on the tube and ride to Camden Town to visit the Cereal Killer Cafe. Whenever I found out that I would be studying abroad in Great Britain, and that we would be staying in London for a week, I decided to heavily research unique places to eat in London. That is when I came across the Cereal Killer Cafe, a cafe solely dedicated to every kid’s favorite morning breakfast food: cereal! This 90’s themed cafe has a wall of all different cereals that you can choose from to mix and match in a bowl, and also has special items like cereal ice cream and cereal fried chicken. I decided on a bowl of their homemade Spaceman cereal to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing.

After my stomach was full of cereal, and my heart was full of happiness (from eating said cereal), my group rode the tube one last time back to our residence hall. I decided to turn in early so that I could get a full night’s rest for our exciting trip to Bath the next day. It was an amazing day of seeing so many quirky little places and having such entertaining class conversations.

Maggie

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Harlaxton Day 3: Austen, Keats, and Stonehenge

July 25, 2019 | 2019 Harlaxton, 2019-2020, Avatars, Jocelyn Martin, Study Abroad | 1 Comment

Our first field trip day! Where do I begin? We started off the day with a two and a half-hour bus ride out to Chawton to see the Jane Austen House Museum. We saw the house she lived in from 1809 – 1817, which is the same house she wrote and published most of her major works. While in Chawton, we also visited the church that Jane Austen worshipped in. This church is also where many of her family members were buried.

After this stop, we then ventured into Winchester where we explored the Winchester Cathedral, which, fun fact, is where Jane Austen was buried. The cathedral had beautiful architecture and was complete with an abundance of burials inside the church. Those buried in the church were either great religious figures or important people throughout history. We then went on the same footpath that John Keats walked whenever he wrote the famous poem ‘To Autumn.’

After all of this physically taxing adventuring, we were able to sit down and relax for an hour or two while being driven to the Stonehenge, our final stop of the day. Once we arrived at Stonehenge, we were given the option to either walk twenty minutes in the heat or be driven down in a nice air-conditioned shuttle. I was with a group of friends, and reluctantly walked the path. While I have to admit that the scenery was stunning, my legs didn’t care as they ached the whole journey, as serene and beautiful as it was. Stonehenge itself was blocked off with rope, so my lifelong dreams of running through it were absolutely crushed. In all seriousness, the stones were absolutely breathtaking and incredibly crowded. It’s so mind-boggling to think about the creation of the Stonehenge, that a few of my peers are convinced that it is the work of aliens. I commemorated the lively day with a new English Heritage themed Monopoly for my Monopoly collection. We all then rushed back onto the bus to begin our long journey back to our residence hall.

Jocelyn

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Harlaxton Day 2: Jet lag, gone. Adventures, await.

July 23, 2019 | 2019 Harlaxton, 2019-2020, Avatars, Michael Givens, Study Abroad | No Comments

After a full night’s sleep and a filling breakfast, everyone is back to being wide-eyed tourists. The feeling of waking up in one of the biggest cities in the world was amazing. The possibilities of fun and experiences are endless. Before we could begin exploring the city though, we had to have our first class of the summer semester.

Each class is three hours long and lasts from 9 AM to 12 PM. During this class time, we started off by reading and analyzing the John Keats poem, “On First Looking Into Chapman’s Homer.” We followed this by discussing the themes of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. Our final task was to discuss our upcoming essay regarding a social difference we observe while we travel around London.

Once class let out, my group and I headed to search for lunch. Due to our residence’s central location in London, almost everything you could need, including the tube station, is within about a 20 minute vicinity. We found some great sushi about 10 minutes away and then begin to plan the rest of our day.

We settled on heading to The British Museum. The museum was amazing! It became apparent right away why this was an international monument. A few of the galleries included Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, the Middle East, and Africa. Some of our favorite sections were the old coins, Vikings, and the famed Rosetta Stone. They even had real mummies in the Ancient Egypt gallery. After three hours of wandering around and admiring the history within those walls, we headed out for dinner.

We took our first tube ride of the day and headed to Leicester Square. We settled on a traditional English pub and had a great dinner. Afterwards, we walked around and looked at shop windows while enjoying some ice cream. We actually stumbled upon the theatre with the production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

London is amazing and we have enjoyed every second. Here’s to many more tube rides and great meals!

Michael

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Harlaxton Day 1: Arrival

July 22, 2019 | 2019 Harlaxton, 2019-2020, Avatars, Jack McCoun, Study Abroad | 4 Comments

The best feeling of any flight is the feeling of the wheels hitting your destination. After eight hours of being on a plane, the Gatton Class of 2020 landed in the London-Heathrow International Airport on July eighteenth. Immediately after arriving, we grabbed our bags, headed through customs, and passed into the United Kingdom. Right from the start of the trip, we had a pure British experience; riding in a double-decker bus. On the way to our accommodations for London, I sat in the front seat on the top level on the bus and watched as we journeyed through the dense streets.

The city felt like a concrete jungle, encapsulating us in a vast array of buildings. There were so many sights that I had not seen in the United States. One of these was that all of the cars in the UK had their driver’s seat on the right side instead of the left. In addition, there were very few fast-food restaurants in the heart of the city. People were also generally very to themselves, more concerned with their day than the city and its tourists. Once we arrived at our accommodations, we stored our luggage and ventured out once more into the city to find a place to eat lunch. London is a very diverse city with multiple cultures calling the city home. After searching for a good restaurant online, my friend friends and I chose a place that served poke. The food was unlike anything I had in America and was full of foreign flavors.

After lunch, we headed back to our home for the week so that we could unpack. Once we had returned, I went to my room to empty my belongings and rest. London is five hours ahead of my home in Kentucky so I was very tired. After eating a British supper at our accommodations, we headed for a screening of a film. The film, which was adapted from the Jane Austen book Persuasion, helped to close our busy day. By the end of the night, we were all ready for bed, and the next adventure on our long journey.

Jack

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2019-2020 Avatar: Ngoc Nguyen

July 22, 2019 | 2019-2020, Avatars, Ngoc Nguyen | No Comments

Hi! My name is Ngoc Nguyen—and no worries, I’ve got you covered: it’s pronounced “knock win.” I was born in Vietnam, but I immigrated to Bowling Green in 2008.

It has been very surreal for me to write this blog post for many reasons.

First, I remember myself as a freshman in high school, stumbling upon this blog for the first time as I tried to learn absolutely everything about Gatton. Sure, the academic rigor and the “infinite possibilities” interested me, but reading about the culture, adventure, and tightness of the Gatton community in the blog posts hooked me. I know I was very curious about this aspect of the Gatton Academy, so I hope our future posts will continue to enlighten this facet of Gatton for many curious prospective students like my past self.

Second, while reflecting back on the past school year to talk about myself, I couldn’t decide if the school year had felt like 3 minutes or 3 years. In 3 minutes, it seemed like I had moved in, experienced GRO Week, finished fall semester, and experienced CPS in the spring semester. In 3 years, it seemed like that was how long I had known the most amazing people I have ever met here.

Anyway, I guess I should really start describing more of myself now—sorry, I know this blog is all over the place.

My current passion is chemistry, and I have been pursuing polymer chemistry research with Dr. Lawrence Hill over the past summer with a Research Internship Grant. Initially, I thought I wasn’t smart enough to do this; I could barely keep up with my high school chemistry lab. But, with research, I got to move at my own comfortable pace guided personally by my mentor.

Other extracurricular activities I enjoy pursuing are swimming (fun fact: I took 2 swimming courses at Gatton that taught me how to swim), volunteering at the library, and interning with a local representative. I am also a member of the Science Bowl team and Science Dance.

I cannot wait for another 3 minutes or 3 years at Gatton—depending on how you look at it.

Ngoc

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2019-2020 Avatar: Austin White

July 22, 2019 | 2019-2020, Austin White, Avatars | No Comments

Salutations from an inexperienced and newly appointed Gatton Academy avatar! I’ve been asked to share all about myself and my past year at Gatton with whoever might be reading this, so here’s an attempt. Let’s see… Owensboro, meeting new friends, attending class, and tons of opportunities is a pretty good summary. See you guys in my next post!

HEY GUYS, LONG TIME NO SEE! Just kidding, I guess they want me to share with you all a few more details than that, so let’s jump into it. I’m originally from Owensboro, Kentucky and I went to Daviess County High School in Daviess County. DCHS was a pretty decent school and I probably would’ve been alright if I stayed there for junior and senior year. Although, I’ll be forever grateful that my mom brought up the opportunity that was The Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science .

For me, transitioning to Gatton meant leaving behind a few amazing friends, my family with seven younger siblings, and sweet, sweet Dave (my car). Once I arrived, I realized everything was much better than I thought. Most of my peers were going through something similar which made it so much easier to start a conversation. Even now, I feel like I could start chatting with anyone and end up with a new friend if they weren’t one already. Gatton has an amazing talent of fostering a tight-knit community, despite the two-year stay of all its students.

A few great contributors to that are the classes and schedules of all the students. I don’t think I’ve ever heard any of my peers say that they were the only Gatton student in their class, even with the countless classes offered through WKU. It’s likely due to how we’re used to challenging ourselves in our coursework at our home high schools. That habit definitely doesn’t disappear in the transition here which means that it’s pretty easy to run into at least one friendly face in your class.

The same can be said for the various extracurricular activities Gatton has to offer. I’ve had two of these experiences in my pursuit of some much-needed exercise and academic passion. At my home high school, I developed a love for soccer and played on the high school soccer team. Luckily for me, a group of guys who had the same experience came together to form an intramural soccer team. I was elated to join in and had an awesome time whooping some of the other WKU undergrad teams. My other happy accident was when I wanted to dive into computer science research. After emailing a generous professor begging him to let me join his lab, he told me that I could come to one of the lab member meetings and meet everyone. Lo and behold, I opened the door to the supposed meeting place and stepped in only to find my buddy Patrick sitting patiently in a chair. After talking to him, we quickly found out that we were there for the same reason. Even in the present, we’re still sitting right next to each other in the same research lab completing a Gatton Academy summer RIG (Research Internship Grant).

Thanks to all of the great people and opportunities at Gatton, my transition ended up being surprisingly easy. I’d even go as far as to say that the past year was my favorite out of the seventeen I’ve lived through. I hope this provides a little more insight into my Gatton life during my junior year and the far from lonesome adventure it was.

See you in my next post (hopefully),
Austin White

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2019-2020 Avatar: Matthew Johnson

July 22, 2019 | 2019-2020, Avatars, Matthew Johnson | No Comments

My name is Matthew Johnson, and I am a newly minted Gatton Academy Avatar and a rising senior. I am from Smithfield, Kentucky in Oldham County. My sending school is Oldham County High School in Buckner, KY and I am the middle of three children. I am originally from California, and lived an hour north of San Diego until we relocated to Kentucky when I was 13. Now I know what you are thinking. This pale, skinny, and small boy is from California? Yes, he is! When I moved to Kentucky, it shocked my peers to learn I was from the Golden State. The move was not at all easy on me, and the culture shock rippled through me every day. EVERYTHING was different, from the way people talked to what they wore to what was taught in school. People thought I was different too, and even called me “Fresh Meat” or “City Slicker”. However, I joined clubs and adapted, a skill that would be very beneficial throughout the rest of my life, and eventually when I would be at Gatton.

I found out about Gatton my freshman year from a friend whose older brother attended. I came home and told my parents about it, and we all thought it was too good to be true and there must have been a catch. There were no programs like this from our home state, as there was no money in the state government to run a program like that. My parent and I attended a preview day towards the end of my freshman year and I decided I would apply. Less than a year later, after applying and interviewing, I received my acceptance and decided to attend almost immediately, as I knew it was the place for me.

Gatton has so far been a great experience. I started the Genome Discovery and Exploration Program under Dr. Rodney King, Ms. Naomi Rowland, and Dr. Claire Rinehart my first semester. This class really showed me how interesting research could be and taught me a lot of basic scientific practices. Another interesting class was Macroeconomics, which taught me a lot about how the world works on a financial level. This was not a required course, but Gatton allows students to take classes that let us explore our other interests. This semester, I am really excited because I get to be a TA (Teaching Assistant) in the same Genome program I took as a junior to the new Gatton Academy juniors, so it really feels full circle. I also was a part of many clubs such a Y Club, the Gatton Academy Medical Association, the Gatton Academy Leaders in Education, and GSA.

Although I loved the Genome Program, I wanted to explore more individualized more related to my career of choice, which is an OB/GYN. I began researching with Dr. Rachel Tinius of the Exercise Science Department my second semester. Before my junior year ended, I received a Research Internship Grant from Mr. Gatton that allowed me to get paid while I conducted research for 8 weeks during the summer, which allowed me to fully devote myself to the research. We ended up looking at the effect of exercise on the presence of the stress hormone cortisol, and the whole summer was a great experience I am very happy I had.

This week, I am traveling to England to go on the Gatton Academy Study Abroad Harlaxton trip. I am beyond excited for this experience, and it is something I have been waiting almost a year for. Not many kids get to say they took a high school English class in England, but that is just another opportunity the Gatton Academy has given me. I love being a Gatton Academy student, and it is so bittersweet that I only have a little over a year of these crazy exciting opportunities left.

Matthew

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