Nine years after I spent a semester at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, I got to co-lead a short-term study abroad program across England and Scotland as a faculty member with my colleague, Dr. Jace Brown.
We were able to offer students the opportunity to take 1 or 2 English electives at the undergraduate or graduate levels. We also took two graduate TAs to assist with instruction, crowd management, and feedback.
While there was certainly a learning curve for two first-timers, the students made it absolutely worth it (and worth trying again in a couple of years!). Here are just a few examples of what made it so special:
- Taking students to see a stage adaptation of My Neighbor Totoro (in cooperation with the Royal Shakespeare Company and with masterful puppetry)
- Going on a tour of the Bodleian Library with a tour guide who was passionate about books and imminently quotable
- Catching students returning in a horde from catching West End shows together
- Teaching moments in public parks, wherever we could find a gathering space
- One student’s reaction when, at afternoon tea in Kingshouse Lodge (Glencoe), he realized how much food comes with afternoon tea
- Students entranced by the tilework in London Underground stations
- Explaining the difference between the Tube and Train travel we would be taking
- Hiking up Arthur’s Seat with students—and taking a long break for photos with the greenery
- Students getting to learn about Scottish farming at the Museum of Rural Life (and seeing highland cows and petting some of the animals)
- Students holding puppy sheepdogs after the working sheepdog demonstration in the highlands
- Spending a half hour one evening skipping stones on Loch Linnhe with students after running into them at the old fort in Fort William
- Watching students run off the bus in the cold and rain to dip their faces under Sligachan Old Bridge on Skye so the fairies would grant them eternal youth
- “Study Abroad Superlatives” during our last class meeting—who was the most likely to ask the best questions, get “Outlandered,” take the best pics, etc.
(I’ve refrained from using photos of students in this post for their privacy.)
Marisa Yerace 
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