Anybody who has ever had a class in Moody Hall must have passed Room 102 at some point. What lies behind the doors of Room 102? Moody Hall, room 102, contains the most life-changing, and exciting set of opportunities (I think) St. Edward’s has to offer! As if the giant globe on the wall does not give it away, this room is home to the Office of International Education. St. Edward’s University offers more than 1000 study abroad options in over 90 countries around the world. Luckily, these programs are so diverse that people of various language proficiencies, majors, backgrounds, etc. can find a program that perfectly fits their needs! St. Edward’s has multiple partner universities as well, including UniversitĂ© catholique de l’Ouest in Angers, France where I am currently studying abroad. This program is unique in that I am taking all my classes with St. Ed’s professors and the courses are just the same as if I were taking them in Austin. On top of that, all of my scholarships and tuition costs transfer over in exact amounts so the cost of schooling here is precisely the same as any other semester in Austin.
This experience gives me the opportunity to explore Europe, meet people from all over the world, and improve my French. Traveling around Europe is ten times easier than in the United States because of the widespread railways that can take you to and from nearly every city in Europe for super cheap (my round trip from Angers to London by train was only €100–that’s to another country). Similarly, the cost of an airplane flight is extremely inexpensive compared with the U.S., as I am flying from Paris to Edinburgh in a few weeks for only €150 (also to another country). I’ve gotten to meet up with friends from high school who are also studying abroad in other countries–I met one friend in London for a weekend and another in Munich for Oktoberfest! Both of these experiences were two of the most unique in my entire life. Also, I went with some of my friends from St. Ed’s to Paris (for only €48 round trip might I add) one weekend and explored The City of Light while being ridiculous American tourists *insert crying laughing emoji*. This was yet another experience that I’ll remember for a lifetime; we went to the top of the Eiffel Tower, saw the love lock bridge (the number of locks on it is insane), got lost on the metro once, and basically fell in love with Paris.
In Angers, one of my new friends is an exchange student at l’UniversitĂ© d’Angers from Poland who speaks nearly fluent English, and I have learned more about another culture from her than I could ever learn from a textbook! Even though I have taken four and half years of French, my French skills were very much lacking when I got here. Fortunately, I have learned so much French by just reading signs and listening to locals speak to each other here. I know that by the time I return home to Austin in December, I will have gained more French language proficiency in four months here than I did through four and half years studying it, which says a lot!Â
Of course I miss Austin terribly and all my friends back in Texas. I’ve been craving Chick-fil-a and Kerbey queso an embarrassingly large amount (Mexican food is actually a bad joke here, they give you five chips as an appetizer and the tacos are more like sad burritos). All of the pictures and snapchats from ACL a couple of weekends ago made me even MORE homesick; but I know there’s always next year and I would not trade this study abroad experience for the world. So there it is! My experiences of studying abroad, traveling the world, learning other cultures, familiarizing myself with a new language, and overall becoming a better person while doing it!Â