Roehampton and Central have a very different campus life. First, Central’s administration would not promote drinking/partying, while at Roehampton lots of campus activities include drinking and clubbing. I think that the way Roehampton handles alcohol is safer because it does not force students to hide drinking, which can be dangerous. And it keeps students from having to drive to drink. Another aspect of campus life that differs from Central is that sports do not dominate the campus. At Central, it seems that the sports teams are the most dominant group on campus. There is a very clear divide between athletes and other students, which makes some groups of students feel very unapproachable and it seems that Central prioritizes sports programs above some academic programs. For example, Central spends lots of money on athletic facilities when academic programs could use more funding and staff. But at Roehampton, there does not appear to be the same divide and the university does not put sports above other things and there is no divide between student-athletes and other students. But, it seems that they have a similar issue with faculty members being overworked and underpaid, although this seems a national issue and out of Roehampton’s control. These things made Roehampton’s campus life more fun and a more inclusive feeling. There are similarities in Campus life at Central and at Roehampton. Both have tons of clubs that make it easy for every student to join a club that they enjoy.

While at Roehampton I attended film society a couple of times. I enjoyed going to this because they showed excellent films and they also followed a meaningful theme, making sure the films taught the students something. For LGBTQ month they showed Pride, which taught me about gay rights and the miner strikes in the UK during the 1980s. I learned a lot about the gay rights movements and the relationship between this community and miners in the UK, and how much they disliked Margaret Thatcher. And for Women’s month, they showed The Farewell, which showed a young women’s struggle with her identity. Students in this club were also informed on current world issues and openly share their opinions. This club was different from many clubs at Central, at Central many clubs evolve into debating politics, while this club was very informative and open.

After reading the linked Country Navigator article I felt that I could relate to the fifth point, Americans are much more direct than Brits. While at work sending emails I felt that I wanted to be more straight forward with clients and ask for information more directly. Although this could be due to the fact that my supervisors had close relationships with their clients, unlike my relationship with suppliers at my previous job, where I did not know who I was talking with. This definitely made communication feel more personable and friendly. Overall, I thought that the points in this article were very accurate in the differences between culture in the US and what I experienced in London.