In the spring semester of the 2023-24 school year, I studied in Paris, France. I had always dreamed of going abroad to study in a European city, since I had never left North America before. As I entered my late teenage years, fashion had become a passion of mine and a huge part of who I was. I felt Paris was able to foster this desire better than any other location. I applied for my student visa and said goodbye to America on January 7, 2024. Â
Although the thought of living in Paris for about five months was thrilling, I had major anxiety. Leaving behind my dog, significant other, and family was hard. I had no problem leaving them for college because they were always within a sixty-five-mile radius and the same time zone. After 3,000 miles and six hours had passed between us, I felt more alone than I had ever felt in my entire life. Plus, jet lag was ringing my bell. Â
I had grown up practicing independence in every aspect of my life, so learning a new city on my own wasn’t as menacing as it could be. My first day, I set out to find my new French Shop Rite and Target. I found IntermarchĂ©Â Super and Monoprix on Avenue D’Italie in the 13th (if you’re planning to study here), which were my new safe spaces in this new city. I tried to get myself out of my apartment as much as I could during my first few weeks to discover the incredible city I was living in and to fight the lonely feeling I couldn’t seem to shake. Â
I had friends studying in other countries which made my experience more bearable. We would visit each other on weekends, and I was able to talk to people who shared a time zone with me, something I could never imagine being so incredibly challenging. I am forever grateful my college friends and I agreed to go abroad during the same semester, as I was the only student, not only from my college at our French school, but the only student from the United States. Thankfully, I was able to become friends with the two Canadian girls in our exchange program. Â
After solo-traveling to Italy, Nice, and Monaco, I realized I enjoyed discovering new places and exploring, and it wasn’t anxiety and sadness from being away from home; it was from having no one to share these experiences with. As the weeks went on, every weekend was booked with trips with my college friends from home. I got to explore Barcelona, new parts of Paris, Sardinia, Rabat, Krakow, Munich, Prague, and Amsterdam with people whom I valued sharing those memories and experiences with. Â
Before I left America, I thought language barriers and new cities to be conquered would have been my biggest obstacles. Instead, I learned those were minuscule problems for an obvious American and a professional NYC subway rider. The biggest hardship was my desire to share these moments when I couldn’t.  Â
Although my trip was filled with a majority of negative feelings, the places I visited and things I experienced are something I will never forget. Being in a class full of exchange students from various countries and having to explain why the United States is so screwed was something I wouldn’t trade for the world. And, although I don’t plan on solo-traveling again, I feel proud and confident that I was able to do it.Â
It wasn’t marketed as the happiest, most thrilling trip of a lifetime; it was a study abroad opportunity to learn in a new city. I will never regret my decision to move to Paris for five months, and the experiences that helped me learn more about myself while exploring some of the prettiest places on the planet are irreplaceable. Â