As I sit here cramming for finals, it started to dawn on me how much of a crazy roller coaster the last five months have been – being, of course, that I’ve spent the last five months studying abroad in suburban France. It really feels like it was just yesterday that I was boarding a plane at the Pittsburgh airport, numb with fear and anxiety about leaving for Europe (with my very first passport) for nearly half of a year to live on my own. I had absolutely no idea what to expect or how I would be able to handle leaving the comfortable, safe, and familiar United States for the first time in my life. It’s hard to believe that the days and weeks have flown as they have, and that I’ve been able to see and experience so much. However, here is a disclaimer: I have had a very, very different experience than those of most other students from whom you’ll likely hear, and I’d like to share it.
Most often in John Carroll publications, I see testimonies and advice from students who studied in our school’s London Program. This makes sense, as the London program is by far the most popular study abroad program at JCU. But for me, when I was looking at my options before choosing my destination, I had nothing to reference that really explained an experience outside of England, and I figured I should change that for students in the future. So here it is: I was one hundred percent alone in a country where English is NOT the main language, and where it’s even looked down upon to speak anything other than French. You know those French stereotypes, of people here hating Americans but still being able to speak English? All wrong. Most people genuinely don’t know the English language aside from “hello,” “yes,” “no,” and “sorry.” Bearing in mind that I hadn’t studied French for 8 months by the time I left, imagine my fear upon arrival. As far as living here, I cooked my own meals, paid my rent every month, shopped for groceries and cleaning supplies and other necessities, and navigated the horror of a French bank account. The foreign exchange (or Erasmus, as it’s called in Europe) program I attended contained no other American students. None, Zero. Thankfully, there were many girls in my program who spoke English to help me ease into life here, but no one from America to make me feel less homesick, and none of those girls lived in my apartment building either. No, for those who didn’t already know, I have NOT been studying in Paris, far from it (three and a half hours by train, to be exact). I’m not even in a city with or near an airport, or any well-known European monuments (save for a statue of Napoleon Bonaparte). It took concerted efforts for me to reach an airport that served a city that I wanted to visit, and for the majority of the time, I could not travel to the cities I wanted to see because I had no option but countless layovers or a twelve-hour (or more) train ride. When you attend school 5 days out of the week, that kind of gratuitous travel is somewhat impossible to accomplish when you have such little time to do it. Not to mention that traveling is EXHAUSTING, which is something you don’t expect to find out. When not attempting to travel, I stayed in my town, a small city called La Roche-sur-Yon, about an hour south of Nantes. Let me be clear – it is not the charming French town you see in Beauty and the Beast or Chocolat. It is a normal, livable place, not too unlike a suburban town you’ll find in Midwestern America. The most exciting thing to do on the weekends was to catch a bus and go to the mall, or to see a film at the small artsy cinema in town.
I was admittedly let down during the first few weeks after my arrival. This wasn’t what I expected! I envisioned chic styles and crepes and berets! John Carroll didn’t prepare me for this! However, despite the slightly disappointed view I had of the town and the situation at first, I slowly warmed more and more to the town and to its residents. While I was able to travel and see several other countries during my time here, I was really able to immerse myself into the lifestyle of a French suburban community. I was able to interact with people who were kind and friendly and welcoming, and to really let it hit home that people live normal lives all over the world, the same way we do. For example, when I’ve been sick or in a panic or needed something, I could always receive help from the French students living in my building, the building director and his wife, or the neighboring residents who were unable to speak English but would be willing to help regardless of the language barrier. I went to mass every week and saw small families with loud children being affectionately “shhh’d” by their parents, the same as I see in my own parish at home. Even now, during the three weeks of final exams, the students here procrastinate and stress out over their work just as much as the students at JCU. While I did not have the experience of living in a large city like London or Paris or Rome, I instead received an experience where I saw the genuine, normal nature of France, in a place that likely never receives English-speaking tourists. Had I been in a massive city, I would not have gotten to see France in the way that I did, nor would I have understood as much about what it’s like to really live in a place so diametrically different from my hometown.
Let me very strongly clarify something: studying abroad is not just the pretty photos we share of the places we visit, or the bragging rights associated with it. It is often incredibly stressful and not always glamorous. It’s going through the nightmare of wiring money from America and struggling to penny pinch with the currency exchange rates and not let your savings hit zero. It’s waking up at ungodly hours to catch trains and planes and other forms or transportation because you have to go through airport security or take a 7 hour train. It’s traveling alone at night and feeling nervous about getting pickpocketed or approached by men on a metro or a city street. It’s sleeping in a freezing cold hostel while wearing your winter coat and listening to 6 strangers snore in the bunk-beds around you. It’s crying foolishly for no reason other than that you miss the people at home and you just get lonely sometimes. No one, not global education, not online articles, can prepare you for that side of studying abroad. But the good part about all this? The amazing experiences absolutely, unquestionably outweigh the bad ones. You have the opportunity to see places you’ve read about since you were 6 years old, and have always dreamed of visiting. You can try foods from all sorts of cultures and always be surprised by a new pastry or sauce. The art you’ve seen on postcards and college poster sales and book covers? You see it in real life. You get to think, “People actually stood where I’m standing thousands of years ago,” and you believe it, with all of the veins of history that are visible throughout the continent. From Ireland to Holland, from England to Italy, even just by exploring the small and culturally rich cities a few hours from your own study abroad location, Europe gives you a chance to experience a world that can teach you about global difference and simultaneously remind you of human similarity, no matter the language or history.
The point I’m trying to make is this: yes, if you are able, you should study abroad. And if it’s not too scary of a concept, go somewhere that speaks a different language, or that has a vastly different culture. The decision to do so will absolutely reward you, ten times over. Last fall, I almost didn’t go through with my application because it was so overwhelming and required so much. Visa application? Driving 5 hours to the French Embassy? Seemingly endless paperwork? It sounds nightmarish, I know. You, too, will go through hard times to make the process happen, and it will make you question if it’s worth the trouble — but it is. Do it. Go somewhere that’s out of your comfort zone and grow as a person. You’ll figure it out as you go along. That’s the fun part. I promise you that you will become a better person, both intellectually and emotionally, by making the choice to expand your horizons.