When I was a prospective student at CC, I stayed overnight with a few friendly freshmen in Mathias. I’ll never forget listening to my hosts express their excitement about an upcoming trip to London for a class called Drama Away. It sounded too good to be true—three and-a-half weeks exploring London by day, attending performances by night, and participating in lively class discussions about theatre each morning. Although I’m a writer, not an actress, I still think theatre is one of the most profound and unique forms of storytelling—there’s something magical about what happens onstage each night. No single performance can ever be truly replicated. I vowed to take this class myself someday, and two years later, as a sophomore, I was finally able to. (I admittedly put a LOT of points on this course to guarantee I’d get in!) In London, we saw puppet shows, ballet performances, splashy West End musicals, obscure plays in tiny blackbox theaters, and of course, one of Shakespeare’s plays at the famous Globe Theatre. I visited Charles Dickens’ house, the British Museum, the Tate Modern, and the National Portrait Gallery, absorbing as much history and culture as I could. I still find it rather incredible that the Block Plan allows such total and complete immersion—my trip to London remains one of the most inspiring and stimulating experiences I’ve ever had.
