This March, I took part in Rosanne Denhard's travel course to England, Arts of Medieval and Renaissance Britain. This was an experience I will remember for my entire life: the first time I flew in a plane, the first time I left the continent, the first time I've been to the country I have dreamed about since I was young.

Over the course of the semester leading up to the trip (which took place over Spring Break), we studied a variety of aspects of the culture of Britain in the middle ages and Renaissance, looking at various texts, artifacts, and paintings and gaining a fundamental knowledge of the subject. As a result, the travel component of the course was all the richer, as we had background knowledge of all of the sites we experienced, understanding the cultural context to things many visitors simply appreciate at face value. 

One of my favorite parts of the trip was the group's visit to the Globe theatre (here is a photograph of myself and three other members of the Yorick executive board, holding a flag we had made for last year's Relay for Life.) While at the Globe, we had the opportunity to walk through the historical exhibition detailing the history and context of Shakespeare's theatre, as well as experience a guided tour of the space and a workshop with one of the professional actors in the training program.  There is absolutely nothing which can compare to the feeling of standing on that stage and looking up at the three tiers of seating around you.  

The trip as a whole was a phenomenal experience which I will never forget.