My Second Year: Fall ’17 – Spring ’18
This year has been one of the best of my life, and I can attribute it’s greatness almost entirely to my semester abroad.
In October of 2017, I began to get antsy. I love Ohio State, I always have, but the stress of sophomore year classes had started to get to me, and the new-to-college novelty I felt freshman year had begun to wear off. I wanted a change, so I decided to flee the country. Well, kind of. I decided to take action towards a goal I have had since I stepped into my first french class in 7th grade: to spend a semester studying the french language in France.
My decision to go abroad was incredibly last minute (like, two weeks before the program’s application deadline last minute), so getting all of my ducks in a row was no easy task. I kept expecting myself to give up or screw up, as sad as that sounds. I have always been one to excitedly take on a new project, but I haven’t always been the best at the follow-through. I thought eventually I wouldn’t be able to take one more meeting with financial aid, or my advisor, or the study abroad staff. I thought something had to go wrong. It had to. I would mess up or the study-abroad stars just wouldn’t align. But, thankfully, I surprised myself, and I just kept working at it. I found a friend who could drive me to Chicago so that I could get my Visa. I applied for scholarships until my costs were covered. I spent every day trekking around campus to get approximately 5,000 forms signed and sent off. I had a lofty goal, and I followed through. All the way through.
And now, low and behold, I am typing this from my home stay family’s balcony in the 11th arrondissement of Paris. The weather is cool and breezy, but the sun is warm on my skin. I am a 10 minute walk away from Place de La Bastille and a 20 minute walk away from Notre Dome. And I absolutely could not be happier.
This semester I have learned more about myself and the world than I ever thought possible. I have mastered french, rediscovered my old creative hobbies, met and befriended people from dozens of countries, stayed in so many sketchy/amazing hostels, eaten more baguettes than I could even begin to count, and fallen head over heals in love with Paris. This is the most cliche study-abroad thing I could say, but my entire perspective on the world has changed.
I know now that I want to pursue a career that allows me to continue using french, and I would love to live and work in Europe again one day. In this next year, my goals are to take action towards this goal through internships or volunteer opportunities, to continue traveling as much as I can, and to continue pursuing my passions outside of business.
In Columbus, it is so easy to get wrapped up in the world of Fisher, and to obsess over the path that is so strictly laid out for you there. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good path. It works and it works well. But before coming abroad, I had forgotten how much I love history, and cinema, and french, and reading constantly for fun, and sitting for hours in the park with my friends. This semester I have not taken a single business class, and honestly, I have loved it. Although I am certainly excited to continue pursuing business next semester, I am also excited to take the things I have so lovingly re-discovered in Paris back with me to Ohio.
