Scholarship.docx

It was normal that I should feel some anxiety about my departure to London. Not only was I the unique organizer of the trip to London, but I was also embarking on a kind of life adventure next to seven more students and two adults. Therefore, if anything went wrong there was only one person to blame: ME. Almost all the other participants from my group were setting out to a place they had never been before. Understandably, they had so many different expectations, concerns and questions I had to deal with and all these made me wonder why I stepped out of my comfort zone. However, while approaching London I started to leave my worries behind and think about the different history and attractions London has to offer. As long as I was able to manage my time efficiently, I knew that we would have a great time. With only one week to experience what London has to offer, I have been asking and researching the different places to go and when landing in London I had a pretty good plan of how to ‘taste’ London and its surroundings. First were the classic sights of Big Ben, the London Eye, the Trafalgar Square, the Piccadilly Circus, the Buckingham Palace, the changing of guards, the Parliament Buildings, 10 Downing Street to name just a few. Secondly, we visited plenty of things: the Tower of London, the British Museum, Westminster Abbey, the National Gallery, the Globe Theatre, the Eton College, the Windsor Castle, Madame Tussauds, the Sea Life London Aquarium and the London Dungeon. We also went behind the scenes at Arsenal, on the Arsenal FC stadium tour. We listened here to the roar of the crowd as we walked down the tunnel, we visited the media interview rooms accompanied by the self-guided audio tour, which was present in almost all the other tourist attractions that we visited. And this was extremely beneficial to improve my students’ listening skills. Surprisingly or not, there were two highlights that my students really enjoyed. One of them was, of course, the wax museum Madame Tussauds which allows visitors to enter an imaginary world where all dreams can come true. Everyone can take photos with Hollywood celebrities, royalty, singers or state presidents. Furthermore, deep within the Chamber of Horrors, things may take a scarier turn. My students’ vocal chords were quite warmed up in this place. All in all, Madame Tussauds is an amazing place for both children and adults and a visit here is a must at least once in a lifetime. In our journey through life, we are all navigating towards something special, dreamed-of place. And such a place was for everyone in the group THE ETON COLLEGE. It is a British independent boarding school, near Windsor and not far from London, founded in 1441 by King Henry VI. It is a school which “produces prime-ministers” (as one of my students said), 19 prime ministers graduating here and also Prince Harry and William and it is intended only for boys. Students generally stay at Eton for five years, arriving at the age of 13. They do not stay in a campus but in a boys’ house which is run by a House Master, who is assisted in domestic matters by the Dame. The house is the centre of a boy’s life: here he has his own bed-sitting room with his bed, his ‘burry’ (desk with drawers) and his own wall decorations. There also are 70 ‘King’s Scholars’ who live ‘in College’ and wear gowns. Over the years, the number of boys with scholarships has grown from the original 70 to nearly 200. If a student’s relative has graduated the Eton College, then his chances of winning a scholarship are higher.

Additionally, the boys here are offered a wide range of opportunities for spare-time activities: art, sculpture, poetry, woodwork and metalwork, almost any musical instrument can be learnt in the Music Schools. Academic standards of the school are high and, despite the ancient buildings and picturesque ‘school dress’, Eton provides exceptionally fine teaching facilities: libraries, the tutorial system that allows students to choose their own academic tutors to supervise their work. The Eton College blends present and past in a living institution that incorporates a long and continuous history. This is the place where many of England’s greatest men laid the foundation of successful careers amidst venerable and picturesque surroundings. To sum up, the entire trip to London was a fulfilling experience. My students had the chance to be exposed to some native English and also to some living British history. If you choose London as your next destination be ready to enjoy the extraordinary sights, breathtaking views and descend into a world full of live interpretation, a world you’re going to be part of though only for a few minutes.