Study abroad is a necessity in grasping a real understanding of how the world works. Studying at Reid Hall was a transformative experience for me, as it was for my Fall 2020 cohort; it honestly wasn’t anything like I expected. I had been studying French for 9 years prior to my arrival in Paris last semester and still wasn’t very confident in my skills. The American system of language acquisition is completely different from the European system in that it takes much longer to gain mastery over languages. This was true for me as well as many of the other American students I ended up meeting. With all of the factors, I was expecting to be a cas particulier, an outlier. I was coming from a very small women’s liberal arts college to an Ivy-League institution in another country which meant different class sizes, different workload, and an altogether new set of people who already had bonds with each other. However, Reid Hall and my host family made me feel at home. I struggled, a lot. I couldn’t communicate my thoughts in French half the time I was there and while I do have a lot of determination, it was embarrassing to understand how lacking my French really was.
There were a few times I gave up on myself but the Reid Hall administrators and teachers were there to pick me back up to fight another day. Without them, I wouldn’t have made it through this program. Enyi, my academic advisor, was my part-time mom and counselor and helped me overcome not only my academic troubles but my emotional disorientation. Moira, my Academic Writing teacher, helped me understand my path was different from everyone else’s and to not compare myself to them. She always told me, “We all go the same distance, but we are at different starting points. There is no shame in this.” These were only some of the many people who helped me adapt to my new life in Paris.
After my semester abroad, I was determined to use my new found skills of global learning and leadership and apply them to my everyday life. I vowed to take the information and skills that I learned in my classes at Reid Hall and apply them to all of my classes in the States. I had a better understanding of how the world works and I was determined to share that. Currently, I am a summer extern for AT&T. Over the past three weeks, I have been able to connect with over 8,000 students internationally with the knowledge that Reid Hall gave me. Studying abroad, while overwhelming and challenging, prepared me for the life I want to live.
