Studying abroad, as they say, is a life changing experience. We’re lucky! We’ll return with a variety of new insights, discovering new parts of ourselves and the world at large. A new culture involves new means of adjustment, each student navigating in their own way. But is it ever as easy as it seems?
photograph courtesy of the end of semester exchange student reception in Sciences Po’s Reims’ old refectory, photographed by director of exchange student affairs Matthew Baker.
(apologies to the many of you who are not pictured)
Whether to improve your foreign language skills, explore a new culture, pursue the love of travel or merely a requirement by your home university, many of you, like myself, have made the decision to pursue your education abroad.
As an exchange student studying at Sciences Po Reims this year, moving to France was the opportunity of a lifetime.Naturally, I envisioned myself thriving in my studies, becoming fluent in French, traveling every weekend, picking up some part-time work, and fostering lifelong friendships with other students from all over the world. All the encouragement and excitement make it easy to idealize such an experience. I felt prepared, content, steady.
ARRIVAL
I arrived in France optimistic, and I am not an optimistic person.
I arrived from busy, diverse Chicago, where the constant bustling of urban life stimulated my newfound independence. As a student living and working within such an environment, I lived and breathed productivity― and it showed. Every day started off bright and early. Getting little ones off to school by half past eight, running to catch the train for class by nine, studying efficiently while simultaneously driving the lengths of the city dropping adolescents off at numerous after school activities, returning home by nine, and starting all over again. The stress was overwhelming, but the reward of having achieved some means of success on my own terms made up for all of it.
In France I had friends and french relatives to reconnect with. Sciences Po was presented as a highly reputable institution, one that offered an educational experience suited to the independence I craved. While the thought of studying within an urban city like Paris felt inevitable to me at first, I came to the conclusion that new change required a new environment ― a far more rural one at that.
This led me to Reims, a town somewhat secluded in the northeastern Champagne region of France. One might describe the overall atmosphere as relaxed ― or as a Parisian relative of mine would say “une ville un peu perdue” ― a town in the middle of nowhere or literally ‘a town a little lost’, and one that certainly feels empty at times.
ADJUSTMENT
Visiting a foreign country is not nearly the same thing as living in one. All the cultural norms are not only presented before you but must be dealt with day after day. With societal expectations so different to those you have grown up with, it’s no wonder the overall adjustment process can feel difficult at times.
I slowly began losing confidence not only in my abilities but in myself. I felt exhausted to the point of questioning whether the jet lag had officially worn off. I had lost my ability to be productive, and socialization among peers felt extremely forced and unnatural. My everyday routine had disappeared and along with it everything that once motivated me to successfully juggle so many tasks at once. I began sleeping in until noon and, perceiving a cold and distant demeanor from my host family, I began to isolate (which, let’s face it, is probably the worst possible thing to do). With everything I had previously envisioned suddenly entirely out of my control, I began to wonder whether other students were experiencing anything remotely similar.
I began reaching out to fellow exchange students, asking them about their process and the tools they utilized to cope with the challenges of living away from home. While many expressed that they felt all was good and well, there were inevitable factors to deal with in the process of adjusting to life here in France. For one, finding a place among the French in Reims and practicing French. Mix this with the separation that can be seen between the native french 'full-time’ students and exchanges, feeling you belong - even short term - can be a challenge.
EXPERIENCE
The study abroad department at my home university expressed the reality of culture shock to each of us prior to our travels. In all seriousness, I do not believe that I understood it to the extent that I do now. The many phases of adjusting to a new cultural experience (honeymoon, frustration, adjustment, and adaptation) are simply impossible to comprehend to the same extent as when you are actively struggling through them.
This is where the study abroad experience holds true weight ―through the sense of personal growth it provides in navigating something that not every student has the privilege of coming to terms with in their early twenties. I can say with certainty that my experience studying abroad has been a rollercoaster of sorts. It has consisted of many bursts of highs from within a sea of the lowest of lows. This reality feels inevitable to me now and each student has their own individual method when navigating the adjustment process.
Since being in Reims, I have struggled without a doubt. But it is the sense of community I have developed here that keeps me moving forward. I have met so many wonderful, multifaceted individuals from all over the world; individuals that I have come to love dearly and that have, for the first time in my life, taught me the true value of life in a town that feels a little lost at times.
Small towns like Reims are exactly what you make of them. You can’t sit back and expect the city to entertain you. Rather, it’s the people within the town that bring it a sense of liveliness; a ‘wholesomeness’ if you will. It’s within towns like these that there is room for an authentic sense of community, but only if you are flexible and willing to search for it. This means reaching out, whether or not you feel inclined―to any and all individuals that you encounter on a daily basis.
The reality of our collective experience is that we are in a state of constant adjustment.
I may not be the most optimistic person … but at least I am willing to try.
Charlotte Pin