Reflections on the Semester

It is hard to sum up the effects of my semester abroad into one blog post. I still think about it often. In the most simple sense, it allowed me to observe a new culture, speak a new language (better than before), and meet new people. And as clichéd as it sounds, immersing myself in so many new things was incredibly eye-opening. And I think the coolest thing about it was that it not only introduced me to a new world, but it also gave me perspective on my life back in the states--perspective I could never have gained without the physical and psychological distance. It made me realize things about myself that I had always taken for granted, things that might be normal in the US but aren't in France. It made me think about what I like about my life in the states and what aspects I might want to work on. And all of these reflections were coming at a good time, because now that I'm back, I'm a senior in college, which suddenly sounds very adult and real. While we were in Paris, we would joke about how weird it would be to come back to "real life"...and how it was even weirder that we were going to graduate in a year, and begin "real, REAL life." In some ways, my semester was a defined period of limbo where I didn't have to be carried by the natural momentum of a twenty-year-old's life. It was a lovely way to halt that for awhile (for example, I decided not to worry about trying to find a summer internship while I was there...it would be too difficult, and it wasn't something I wanted to concern myself with while abroad). And yet, five months is a long time, and by the end of the semester, I was ready to dive headfirst back into my world here.

And some of what I learned while abroad will help me dive into new and exciting experiences here, I think. For example, the language barrier ended up forcing me to be assertive and a bit more daring than usual. I had to learn to feel totally comfortable lunging into a conversation, even if I didn't feel comfortable with my conversation skills yet. Or going into a classroom full of only-French students, and then listening to an entire lecture in French, and then explaining to the professor that I wasn't on the rollcall list yet, because my program was different. You get the idea. I HAD to communicate with people even when I was terrified to, so now, I'm more used to dealing with nerve-wracking situations.

And all in all, spending so much time in France made me fall in love with this new country, and simultaneously re-appreciate things about America that I had taken for granted. Sometimes, I would be having an amazing time in Paris, and I would simultaneously be kind of homesick for the US. It was a strange feeling. And of course, now that I'm back in the US, I once again take the simplest things for granted...like having the signs be in English, or the stores open late, or access to Hulu and Netflix...All in all, going abroad was a life-changing experience, and to anyone even considering it, I would recommend it in an instant. I have never met anyone who regretted going abroad, and it has the potential to be absolutely amazing. I'm so thankful I was able to go, and now I'm ready to start new adventures this summer!