Live music, visiting family in Wales, and exploring Scotland

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Cerys Ramos Davies

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Cerys Ramos Davies

<i>Home Institution</i>: Loyola Marymount University <i>Expected Graduation Year</i>: 2024 <i>Academic Major / Minor</i>: Journalism <i>Destination</i>: London, UK <i>"Hello" in your host country's language</i>: Hello <i>Program Provider</i>: FIE <i>Demographics</i>: Hispanic/Latinx <i>Future Career Goals</i>: My ultimate career goal is to be a music journalist. I grew up with music fanatics as parents. With such early experiences of live music and pop culture, I have developed a passion for all of the conversations and opinions that surround music and music culture. My end goal is to play a role in these kinds of conversations. <i>Top Three Study Abroad Goals</i>: My first goal is to dive head first into the London music scene. I was born and raised in Los Angeles and continue to attend college in the same city. I have only ever been able to fully experience shows and events in LA and I am ready to broaden my music experience by living in London, another music capital of the world; My second goal is to travel and experience as many cities and cultures as possible. I plan to spend my weekends abroad taking as many planes and trains to as many different places. This is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity and I plan to make every second of it memorable; My third goal is to reconnect with my heritage. My father was born and raised in Swansea, Wales. As a young child, we used to spend the summer in Swansea. But as my brother and I grew up and life got busier we stopped making these trips. My father unfortunately passed away from COVID-19 in 2021. I plan to spend my time abroad reconnecting with who he was, working on personal growth, and appreciating my British heritage.

One of my main goals in London was to attend cool music events. Prior to this I had experienced cool techno clubs that love strobe lights more than the music itself, interesting dive bars that often have a few guys playing instruments in the background, and of course some pretty good acts within the different tube stations. But something I wanted more than anything was to attend a Boiler Room. The Boiler Room is a special kind of event that spotlights up and coming DJs and gives them a chance to showcase their skills not just at the parties, but on all of the Boiler Room’s social media that is followed by millions. It’s a rather hard list to get on, but I was determined. As soon as one was announced to be in London, I signed up as fast as I could and anxiously awaiting a confirmation. A few days later, I got an email saying I was in. It was literally a dream come true. The event itself was genuinely some of the best DJs I’ve heard in a really long time. The crowd loved them so much. It was an incredible environment to be in and I’m happy I got the chance to attend.

After this event, I planned to go visit my family in Wales for the first time since I was around 13. I used to spend every summer in Wales when I was a kid. Taking the train there was surreal. It all felt so familiar and it felt like no time had passed as soon as I saw my family. We went to all of my favorite childhood bakeries and ice cream shops. It was a rather nostalgic trip. I really felt like I was a kid again. It was really good to spend some time with them and walk along one of my favorite beaches in the world.

The next week was unfortunately full of an insane amount of essays, readings, and presentations. But I was productive as I possibly could be and was able to finish it all before my internship placement interview. The second half of the program I am doing with FIE (Foundation for International Education) involves doing an internship for a London company. I was assigned to The Handbook, an online lifestyle publication, that I am really happy to be a part of. This was the first time I met with the team and it went great. I think it is a perfect placement and I am looking forward to starting to work with them.

After my interview, it was time for a quick weekend trip to Edinburgh, Scotland. I didn’t really know what to expect from Scotland, but it really did blow me away. There is such an interesting history and it really is an adorable little city. We toured the castle which was insane, did a ghost tour that was actually quite frightening, hiked to see the highland cows, and ate lots of potatoes. It was a short, but great trip. I even picked up a kilt for myself.