Office of Study Abroad

Profile: Zaire Simmonds '26

Major/minor: Education

Study abroad program: Advanced Studies in England, Spring 2025

Reason you chose this program: When considering my "why" abroad, I considered two key factors: 1) I wanted the experience to teach in a different country. I was fortunate enough to teach in Massachusetts and New York City and see how different Waltham was compared to the Bronx. Despite both being in America, there were noticeable differences. I wanted to see how different America's education goals and practices were from those of another country (Ultimately, I wanted to know if anyone had Education figured out). 2) Because I knew how vital teaching abroad was going to be, and I wanted to ensure I could offer my best, I wanted to go somewhere where English was the spoken language.

Favorite classes: My favorite aspect was Character-Driven Prose. It allowed me time to really hone in my creativity. This class was my first creative class, where I primarily focused on one character and learned how to develop it across a story. This class was special because it wasn't offered at Brandeis. My second favorite would have to be my internship class. I was able to work very closely with the professor during my school placement because the class was so small. It was only 3 of us, and so we had a lot of influence on how we spent our time with our professor. 

How did you incorporate your Brandeis areas of study into your study abroad experience? I've taken ED 100b: Secondary Education, ED 165b: Research in Education, and ED 172: Critical Race Theory at Brandeis. My experience and understanding of teaching Secondary Education, gained from ED 100b, helped me in my placement when working with Year 6. My ability to think critically about the role of post-positivity and various identities as they affect our understanding of education, teaching, and learning, as explored in ED 172, helped me understand England's school system and how to approach my internship, especially since I worked in a school that wasn't as diverse as many others. My ability to code and analyze research in education from ED 165 helped me understand how to work with research in England when I was reading research from English scholars.

Housing situation: I lived in an 8-person house called The Ralph owned by  ASE. The Ralph included four rooms, with two people in each room. Each room came with a desk and a closet. Our house included a dishwasher and two bathrooms. Ralph, an entrepreneur and philanthropist, reformed the British postal system and used his wealth to invest in Bath stone quarries, earning a second fortune. He transformed his former post office into a townhouse, where he lived until 1745, before moving to Prior Park. The house later became the residence of Prince Hoare, a renowned sculptor from Bath, adding two notable occupants. Our house was very popular, especially among tourists! We lived right next to the oldest house in Bath.

What were some parts of your identity that you thought about while considering study abroad? Being a Black and a Queer man abroad. I wanted to ensure that the environment I was going into was supportive of my identities. 

Favorite memory: I made friends with a local. And before I left, we had a pub crawl with his coworkers, who really treated me like family while I was out there.

What was your greatest challenge? The greatest challenge was navigating some of the limited understanding of specific issues, particularly those related to race and gender, that I encountered while abroad.

What do you know now that you didn't know before?  I didn't realize just how much support I would need. I definitely wish I had kept in contact with my support from my advisors abroad. 

Fact about your Bath that you think people would be surprised to learn: Bath is historic! Bath is unique in preserving its historic, classic look.