Heather Kelly
Yale in London has played a very important part in my life, as it was how I got to know my husband.
The professors my term were Brian Allen (18th-century British Painting), Timothy Kidd (Shakespeare and Renaissance English Drama), and Diana Wylie (Critics of Colonial Policy and Britain in South Africa); London was our classroom. Viewing actual paintings by Hogarth, Gainsborough and Reynolds--instead of looking at mere slides--was an incredible privilege. Going out to plays and getting to meet the actors afterward--including a young Mark Rylance after a performance of Hamlet--are experiences I will always treasure. And using George Orwell's actual notes while researching a paper was, in all honestly, probably not something I should have been allowed to do…but it was cool!
I shared a furnished flat near Marble Arch with the other two female students in the program that term. Together we discovered the joys of McVitie's Digestive Biscuits and Ribena, delicious and affordable Lebanese food on Edgware Rd., and window-shopping on Oxford St. Just living in London was an education!
I could list myriad additional experiences and memories, but suffice to say that I will always be grateful for the wonderful experience I had, the generosity and kindness of the teachers and staff (notably Kasha Jenkinson), and the deep way in which my life has been lastingly enriched. Sophie Ross (age 14) and Bennett Ross (age 10) would not exist had I decided to stay in New Haven in spring of 1990!