Abby Lincoln, a senior member of the Michigan State softball team, is spending the summer studying abroad in London, England, continuing her academic studies as a Spartan. Follow her on her journey around the city of London, through historic landmarks, to class and other once-in-a-lifetime experiences around the country.

Abby Lincoln surrounded by the sights of London, England.

6/29, Saturday:
Hello from London! We landed at 11 a.m. London time and then we teamed up with three other MSU study abroad programs. A couple people lost their luggage, and I ran into another Spartan athlete when we arrived! She is a girl named Stephanie on the tennis team. We took charter buses to our dorms, but due to terrorist attacks in the region, many of the streets were closed so it took over two hours to get to our dorm. We met Dr. Cooke at our dorm for our academic meeting and organized our rooms.

6/30, Sunday:
Today we had our orientation and bus tour around London. The orientation emphasized on how important it was to stay in a group because of the terrorist attacks the past couple days. Our group of girls, all studying communication science disorders, is really becoming good friends. The bus tour took about four hours! We went all over Central London and saw places like The London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Houses of Parliament, St. Paul's Cathedral, and the London Bridge. It has only been two days and it has been an awesome experience so far!

7/5, Thursday:
London keeps getting better everyday! This morning we only we only had class for a few hours so that gave us a lot of time for sightseeing. A bunch of us went to Picadilly Circus. We walked around and shopped for a few hours. In the evening, our group attended the musical "Wicked". It was one of the best productions I have ever seen!

Abby Lincoln in front of the Princess Diana Memorial

7/6, Friday:
This afternoon my sister and I went on a huge adventure! It all started at Buckingham Palace where we saw the changing of the guards. One of the most exciting things I have done thus far. After the ceremony, we walked to Princess Diana's Palace (Kensington Palace). The home was absolutely beautiful. When the sun went down we went to Leichester Square where we saw Orlando Bloom! People were crowding the streets and it was just an exciting experience.

7/7: Saturday
Today was a very productive day! We had the entire day to site-see. There always seem to be something going on in London. Today a group of us went to Wimbledon. It was a beautiful day and there were a ton of people watching the professional tennis players. I was able to watch famous athletes just feet away! On the way back we stopped near Hyde Park to watch Le Tour De France pass through. Seeing all these athletes made me miss home.

7/9: Monday
Hello from Scotland! Today we arrived in Edinburgh. We took the Brit-Rail which took about 3 hours from London. The sites I saw just on the trip over were priceless. After arriving we were eager to check out the city. We jumped on the nearest bus tour and saw the wonderful things Scotland has to offer.

7/13: Friday
Today I put my hiking shoes on and climbed St. Author's Peak located in the middle of Edinburgh. The view from the top was absolutely amazing. This was one serious workout. Red would be proud! Scotland is also known for all of their famous ghost stories. As a group, we set up a scary ghost tour for Friday the 13th. I learned a lot about Edinburgh's history on the tour.

7/15: Sunday
Today is our last day in Scotland. I am so glad I was able to experience Scotland during this trip. We tried to fill the day with as much as possible before we go back to London tomorrow. A bunch of girls took a day trip to St. Andrews. St. Andrew's is the city where the British Open is hosted. After visiting I can see why they choose that location. The golf course is located right next to a beautiful beach where we relaxed most of the day. When the evening came, we headed back to our flats to get ready for the Taste of Scotland. I had been looking forward to this activity all week. This fancy occasion consists of a five course meal and a social gathering afterwards. This week was great and I'm so excited to continue our journey back in London.

Abby Lincoln at Wimbledon.

7/20: Friday
Bonjour from France! Today I traveled to France with eight other girls in the group. We have so much planned. Our day started off at 3:45 a.m. to catch the train to France. I was very excited for the train ride because it goes under water! Once we arrived, after a three hour train ride, we checked into our hotel and grabbed the first bus map we could. We went to The Louvre, which is the museum that is known for exhibiting the famous Mona Lisa portrait. The weather is much warmer than England. I do not understand a word of French which will make this a challenging but a great weekend!

The Eiffel Tower

7/21: Saturday
I need to learn French! Trying to get around France is much more difficult than England. We are going on a boat tour to see all of the major attractions France has to offer. It was a beautiful day so the boat was crowed with tons of tourists. After the boat tour, we went back to our hotel to get dressed up to go to the Eiffel Tower. We had dinner on the lawn in front of the tower and stayed until night time. The tower lit up around 10 p.m. It was absolutely beautiful and I will never forget this site!

7/22: Sunday
Today was a magical day! Three other girls and I decided to go to Disney Paris. We had a blast! We went on all the rides and saw all the Disney characters. At the end of the day there was a huge parade where all the characters came out on floats. Going to Disney was a great way to wrap up my France trip.

Abby Lincoln in France.

7/27: Friday
Today is my last night in London. This trip has been absolutely amazing! I have made a ton of new friends. When I look back on everything that I have accomplished this month, it's truly remarkable and most memorable. I would recommend studying abroad to anyone and everyone. It definitely changes your life and you grow from all the experiences you encounter. My professors did a great job presenting the academics. I learned so much and I was fascinated by the clinical experiences. I learned so many different things about my major that I could have never learned in a classroom setting. This trip has motivated me to go on to graduate school. Thank you everyone who made my study abroad memorable and thank you to everyone who has read my journal!