scotland!

Wow, you guys. Long time no see! I kinda dropped off the face of the planet after starting my undergrad–who knew college would be so much work?

Regardless, I’m back! I just finished a semester studying abroad in Scotland (which was incredibly inspiring for that medieval fantasy series I’ve been working on since high school) and thought I’d swing in to give a little recap of what I’ve been up to!

I got lucky enough to land a seat at the University of St. Andrews for the Fall 2023 semester, alongside my best friend Carl, and we both shipped out there in early September. Because of my college’s degree requirements, I couldn’t take any writing courses while there, but that didn’t bother me one bit! I chose St. Andrews because of their strong medieval studies program (the other thing I’m majoring in) and because, well. Scotland? Castles? The North Sea? What more could I want?

I ended up taking three courses while there–one course on adaptation theory and the various challenges of adapting classical texts into written and visual media; a survey course on all the eras of American poetry; and, my favorite, a course on medieval castles everywhere but Scotland. My courseload was astonishingly light, compared to my usual schedule at Hamilton, which left me with entirely too much free time. I’m sad to report I did not use it to write my medieval fantasy book, but instead to travel! Here’s a quick list of all the shennanigans I got up to while there:

learned to swordfight with the Shire of Caer Caeldon, St. Andrews’ chapter of Regia Anglorum
went swimming in the north sea in a victorian dipping pool
acquired a taste for haggis
did not acquire a taste for irn bru
frequently had lunch at the cafe where Kate and William met
collected a bunch of marbles from various beaches
climbed Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh
saw the northern lights for the first time!
pet a highland cow
took a boat out on Loch Ness (sadly, no nessie sightings)
went on a bus trip to all the castles around Aberdeen (10/10 recommend; it was my favorite part of the whole semester)
saw the cast of Critical Role live at Wembley in London!
got my first tattoo (sorry mom)
went to a black tie gala
saw Hozier perform live in Glasgow
got way too much sipping chocolate from Janetta’s
and wrote a super cool paper on Chateau Guédelon, a medieval castle currently being built using medieval techniques in France!

Whew, that’s a lot of stuff. I’ve included some highlights in the photo reel below. While I was super sad to leave (I only saw about ten of the estimated two thousand castles), I’m excited to get back to my writing! Thanks for reading, and hopefully I’ll be back with more exciting updates soon!