The New London Career Trek: Opening Eyes and Minds
Twelve intellectually curious and eager students spent October 8-14, 2025, exploring London while engaging their imaginations and learning first-hand what an exciting global career might look like for them. In seeing, minds were opened.
The inaugural London Career Trek was a creative vision of Dr. Bridgette Gunnels, Associate Dean and Director of the Center for Pathways and Purpose at Oxford College of Emory University. Like Oxford College's distinctive approach, the London Career Trek was designed to give students the opportunity to follow their curiosity, not just their checklists.
Setting Intentions
As a tenured associate professor of Spanish, Gunnels has worked closely with Oxford students both in and out of the classroom since 2011. She understands the importance of providing Career Trek opportunities that intentionally showcase what professional life could be like in a range of major cities, especially across the globe.
“We did the London Career Trek as a pilot this year, to gauge both student interest and the sustainability of the destination. The purpose of the London Career Trek for me was to expose students to a wide variety of potential careers that are rooted in a liberal arts foundation . For example, majoring in the Humanities can build key skills (like writing and analysis) that take you many different places, ” said Gunnels, adding she also wanted students to visualize the depth of things London residents do and enjoy daily.
Launched in spring 2024, The Center for Pathways and Purpose (CPP) provides an immersive experience that prepares Oxford students for their next steps at Emory and beyond. The CPP offers a range of opportunities for personal growth by uniting experiential learning, community engagement, access to deep faculty mentoring through internships or guided research, and global learning and career and professional development.
Embracing Loops
Gunnels also wanted students to see how college prepared them for their careers, even though their paths might have more twists and turns than expected. For example, an English student might leverage the writing skills they have developed through their degree to build community and later work alongside students seeking international internships.
“A message central to me as a goal is for students to understand that a lot of times when you're choosing a course of study, you're building a subset of skills that can prepare you for many different careers. Not all careers are strictly disciplinary in nature,” explained Gunnels, who pointed out that many skills are applicable in different fields.
“One advantage of a trip like this is to highlight the ‘loopiness’ of life. For example, you think things are linear. You tell yourself that I’ll take this next step, and this one, and then I'm going to magically have this job at the end, when everyone who has been in the world knows that’s far from the truth. The more students can put a face and a name to someone's life, the easier it is for them to be kinder themselves when barriers arise,”
Connecting Scholars
The London Career Trek application was open through March 17, 2025, to all sophomore, junior, and senior students on the Atlanta or Oxford campuses who held a U.S. passport (or recent application) or a current F-1 visa. Processes were in place for the applications, interviews, and selections.
Career Treks are directly connected with the Career and Professional Development (CPD) team, which exists inside the CPP. This CPD team, led by director Adelaide Richardson, provides critical pre-departure support, including a series of meetings to prepare students for their trip, and debriefing to students upon their return.
Through storytelling and sharing, this first-ever London Career Trek brought together alumni, parents of Emory students, a former Bobby Jones Scholar, and other friends of Emory and Oxford, including first-year students already in the city for “Oxford Launch: London.”
Students spent the week in the historic, residential Camden neighborhood and were housed with fellow London Career Trek participants. Eight were current Oxford students, and four were from the Atlanta campus. Although most were studying either business, economics, or political science, biology and English majors were also represented.
Many members of the group said they enjoyed bonding while riding the Tube, walking, observing, laughing, and learning British expressions. Site destinations included trips to CNN International Commercial, Alston & Bird, Deloitte, Sotheby’s, and visits with the London Launch students.
Exploring Possibilities“Our visit to CNN, for example, highlighted so many different areas of study that students were just amazed that they could see themselves in almost every part of that organization in some way. Our CNN host commented on how important it was to understand ancient and modern history, because if you were supporting a global correspondent, part of the preparation was to have someone who could bring them up to speed quickly and succinctly on what's going on in the region,” said Gunnels.
Students were happy to provide feedback. Jack Steffen 26Ox shared, “I grew the most from exploring the city, finding the local treasures, and allowing myself to slow down enough to be swept up by the day-to-day of London and Oxford,” adding that though he’d previously had no intention of studying internationally, the trip shifted his perspective.
"It was so cool to meet Emory alumni and learn about how their journey at Emory led them to where they are today. I was especially glad to meet the London Launch students, encourage them, and assure them that their transition to Oxford will be smooth,”
Jacey Mok 26Ox appreciated learning from some of the juniors on the trip who had more experience in business school. “They provided insights on the cultural shifts, and I learned about career paths. I also adopted their mindset/networking techniques toward the end,” explained Mok, who also enjoyed 1:1 time with young alumni at the mixer, learning about a global career, and getting a taste of the different work/life balance in London.
Cultivating Curiosity
Gunnels reflected, “The London Career Trek was an experience where the value of a liberal arts education shone. Nearly every panelist who spoke to our students at some point emphasized the importance of taking classes grounded in the liberal arts tradition, whether that be philosophy, learning to engage in dialogue with others, history, chemistry, or the arts. There were so many areas of study represented that were outside of business.”
Students heard intriguing stories that sparked their curiosity, such as an Alston & Bird panelist’s friend who was formerly in the military and now works in a high-level position at MasterCard. He shared that the most valuable class he’d advise students to take to prepare them for life would be acting. He highlighted the importance of learning how to be comfortable in front of people and how to play a role and do it well, adding that getting comfortable with public speaking of all types is a skill he leans into daily.
A speaker at Sotheby’s shared that she was a chemistry major who later earned her master's degree in art history. She now specializes in valuing works of art. She discussed the various parameters she uses to create her art analysis, including the skills she learned during her preparation as a chemist and in her master's degree.
“Hearing life stories like these helps to put a face on how you use each day and what you're doing with your time. I hope one of the more valuable takeaways for the students is that sometimes it's easy to get wound up in the idea that they must have it all figured out and that there must be a very clear endgame. However, they're shortchanging themselves if they're not open to all the possibilities. And the only way to know that is to go, I think, and see what's out there,” said Gunnels.
The new London Career Trek is just one example of how students can explore their unlimited potential, both at Oxford and outside the classroom. Each tool offered by the Oxford Center for Pathways and Purpose is grounded in a holistic foundation that encourages students to transform their wonder into wisdom. Like the London Career Trek and every national and global travel option, the value of a liberal arts education at Oxford College will always remain a priority.
