MC Leaders Recruit Students for London Program

MC senior Carli Culpepper of Montgomery, Alabama is pictured in England

Carlynn Culpepper raves about London attractions like Big Ben, Kensington Gardens, and Parliament.

But signing up for Mississippi College’s London Semester Program was much more than visiting England’s historic attractions.

“I left MC with 13 other strangers and came back with 13 best friends,” Culpepper says. A senior from Montgomery, Alabama, Carlynn spent quality time with her host family and enjoyed classes with outstanding MC professors.

Other students will get the chance to soak up similar experiences by enrolling in Mississippi College’s 2022 London Semester Program. Launched in 1989, the MC program opens doors for students to earn a full semester of academic credit while living in the London environment. Tours of England, Scotland, and Wales go with it.

The time Carlynn spent in 2020 along the Thames River and in clear view of the Tower of London proved to be an unforgettable experience. It’s inspired the public relations major to dream of traveling to other nations once the COVID-19 pandemic ends.

What did the experience abroad accomplish? “I became more confident in myself and brought back so many memories that I will never stop talking about,” Carlynn Culpepper said. “We also all came back with some favorite new foods.”

London Semester Program director Steve Price is busy recruiting the next class of students to apply and pursue their studies in Great Britain.

Price is encouraged by the number of students catching the travel bug. Costs are higher than a semester of studies on the Clinton campus. But the many benefits are worth every penny, the English professor believes.

The London program operates a new Instagram account and utilizes other social media platforms to get its message across to students.

Graduates of the program are often its premier ambassadors.

As part of the London 2020 class, MC student Abby Griffin says her unique England experience ranks as her best ever. "Every day while in the city, we were constantly surrounded with arts, culture, and history, unlike any experience I've had before.”

The spring semester in London was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, but “I’m still grateful for every moment that we spent in the United Kingdom.”

Spanish professor Beth Stapleton is an experienced pro who’s led Mississippi College trips abroad for years.

“The London 2022 program will be amazing,” Stapleton says. “We are working together to make course options available for more students across campus and combing through the budget to maximize the semester program for all involved.”

MC's COVID-19 coordinator, Stapleton, serves as director of the McMillan Center for Education Abroad. The late Dr. McMillan was the founding father of the London program.

Stapleton, Price, director of the MC Writing Center, and an all-star roster of professors are working hard to ensure success for next year’s London Semester.

Part of the university’s 2020 delegation, Carlynn Culpepper loved walking with friends to see Chinatown, the London Sky Garden, and Hyde Park. “My host family even commented on how busy we were, saying that we had done more in the month we were with them than they had their entire lives in London.”