Centrepiece Online | Summer 2011

Maybe It’s Because You’re a LONDONER

 Part of the appeal of spending several months in one place is the opportunity to become a resident, to learn the ebb and flow of a place over time not just as tourist passing through. To date, 731 students have become Londoners—if only for a semester—through Centre-in-London. A few share their favorite recollections.

Courtship days: Michael and Lois
Winner Stemmler ’91 at Regent’s College 

True Love I

“We met in London during the war.”

That’s what my husband likes to tell people when they ask how we met. We were both studying in London in 1991 during the first Persian Gulf War. Some questioned the wisdom of traveling to a major world city during a time of war, but I had no intention of missing out on this opportunity. I was in the last semester of my senior year at Centre, so it was now or never. My time in London was definitely one of the highlights of my time at Centre—and of my life. When our children grow up, we will absolutely encourage them to study abroad. If nothing else, it’s an eye-opening experience to be a foreigner.

Lois Winner Stemmler ’91, whose husband, Michael, was at Regent’s College from Lake Forest College.

Kara and Michael Dodson ’92 in 1991 

True Love II

I met Kara celebrating her 21st birthday at the Frog and Firkin pub south of Portobello Road about two days after we arrived. She and her friends were from Lafayette College in Easton, Pa., and were studying at Regent’s as well. That chance meeting that night in January of 1991 led to a yearlong romance, one which emerged during our time in London together and blossomed into a relationship which carried forward after we returned to the States. I remember a night in February when London had been hit with a snowstorm. The two or three inches that fell seemed to baffle this old city, shutting down rail and Tube transit and leaving the streets a ghost town. Kara and I wandered along the side streets of Notting Hill that evening, enjoying the quiet city and the whisper of snow falling through the yellow light of the street lamps. We chanced upon a little pub tucked away off Holland Park: the Uxbridge Arms. We went in to warm up with a nightcap before returning to our respective flats and found our oasis.

Kara and I split up in the fall of 1991. We both had returned to our respective colleges and were completing our senior years. I lost touch with Kara over the years, speaking to her only a handful of times. Whenever I thought of London or had a quiet moment on a snowy evening, though, I would remember her, our love, and our magic city. I used to look for her in every airport I would frequent, wondering what it would be like to run into her again, wondering what journey her life had taken.

 In March of 2008, I received a message via LinkedIn, that a Kara wanted to connect with me. I put off responding, busy with a new career and my own life’s bumpy road. I ultimately responded, and sure enough, I had found my long-lost love. I will spare you the details of our reunion, but will tell you this: On Dec. 5, 2009, Kara and I were married. Seventeen years had passed since we had seen each other, but our love was still as present and timeless as the city we both loved and love. We went back to London not too long ago, walking the streets we once walked together and marveling at the changes and lack of change. London will always be our city, and without Centre-in-London, we wouldn’t have had it or each other.

Michael Dodson ’92

Spring 1994 London group at Stonehenge. Kathryn Stelmach Artuso ’96
is far right, long before she became a college English professor. 

Following Mrs. Dalloway

During my semester in London, I loved to walk from Regent's Park to Westminster and back, soaking in the sights and sounds of the city. Years later I realized that this is the same route walked by Clarissa and Peter in one of my favorite novels, Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway. Now, when I teach the novel, I can clearly picture the streets in my mind, and I’m always moved by Woolf’s beautiful perceptions of the modern urban environment.

Kathryn Stelmach Artuso ’96

On the wall at the River Thames in front of Parliament:
Sebastian White ’94, Elizabeth Painter ’94, Missy Richey 94,
and Greg Hernandez 94. Now married, White and Richey
are yet another Centre-in-London love story. 

Footie Fan

One of my favorite memories from my time in London was going to see an Arsenal game at Wembley Stadium. The atmosphere was incredible. Throughout the game, the crowd periodically broke into songs and chants to cheer on the Gunners; I don’t think I’ve heard as many people singing together before or since. It was a close game and the score was tied, 1-1, at the 90th minute. One minute into stoppage time, Thierry Henry scored the go-ahead goal, and the stadium exploded. I’ll never forget what it was like to see firsthand how passionate (and crazy) English soccer fans are.

Scott E. Davis ’01

A Penny Saved

I read quite a bit growing up and consequently read a lot about other countries. I knew I would explore the world beyond my small hometown at some point. Many of my favorite books included London in some form or fashion. I loved the book Madeline in London as a child and although I don't remember it, my parents tell me that I announced to them at about age nine that I wanted to go to London. They told me to save my money, so I did. I saved eight years worth of babysitting money by the time I got to college. After my London semester with Centre I had so much money left over, I called home and told my parents I was not coming home until the end of the summer. I spent all summer traveling around Europe solo. During my high school years my mother made me read several Dickens novels and complete oral and written reports (her personal supplement to my public school education). I hated being forced to do something, but perhaps appreciated my time in London more as a result.

Elizabeth Painter ’94

We Crushed Them

 London was a natural destination for me, an English major. I could study a Shakespeare drama in class in the morning and then attend the play that afternoon. I loved living in a huge, worldly city with endless places to explore, chatting with quirky Londoners around town, adventuring on several brief excursions just outside of London as well as a few longer trips around the United Kingdom and Western Europe—all readily accessible by train—learning to play rugby, using funky British terms like “the lift” and “WC,” and getting to know my friends from Centre better as well as hanging with other students from Regent’s College and the European Business School drinking English pints.

A highlight was when we organized a rugby match on the Regent’s College lawn. A bunch of dudes (mostly Americans and a few Brits) from our dorm, Reid Hall, challenged students from the European Business School. Few of us on the Reid Hall squad had ever played rugby before, so our mostly European and British opponents were confident. We crushed them! Then both teams celebrated for hours in the campus pub.

Patrick Herde ’93