Harlaxton Day 18: Class and York

Today, our class time was cut a little short because there was an optional trip to visit the Kentucky-based Carlson Software company that has just opened a United Kingdom office in York. We headed to the train station and grabbed lunch before our hour-long train ride, which wasn’t bad at all. We had a very scenic view of the countryside and played cards the entire way. I won twice, by the way, no big deal.

Upon our arrival, we were greeted with a fantastic lunch, after which our tour of the York location began. We learned that Carlson Software specializes in field data collection software, machine control products for the land surveying, civil engineering, construction, and mining industries worldwide from data collection to design to construction. Although I am not particularly interested in pursuing a computer science or engineering career, I found the work they are doing to be very interesting, and I was proud that a Kentucky company had international connections. We even got to meet a Gatton alum that works for the company, and we were glad to hear about his academic path as well as his experiences while he attended Gatton.

After our tour of the Carlson Software location, we had free time in the city of York. We walked along the town wall, shopped at the stores lining the cobblestone streets, and ate some excellent Thai food, trying to keep the stress of our approaching final out of our minds.

Once we met back at the station, we loaded onto our train and were then asked to exit because the train had lost power and was therefore terminated. We then had to switch platforms and were delayed yet again. At this point, I honestly thought we were going to have to spend the night in York. Fortunately, our train came, and we made it back to Grantham.

Today, in my opinion, has been one of the best days I have had on this trip and I wish it wasn’t ending so soon. Here’s to making the most of our last few days!

– Evan