Studying abroad in Strasbourg, France was one of the most life-changing experiences of my life. Going into it, I had no idea how this experience was going to help me grow and learn from the world around me. I learned how different countries and cultures have various ways of doing things. France is a lot more relaxed than America. The people were more leisurely and focused more on having intentional conversations with others rather than on getting straight to business. While abroad, we got to do multiple activities with French students, and it was so eye-opening to get to learn about how their college experience in France compared to my college experience at A&M. All of the French students that I talked to were so welcoming and open about their culture, which allowed me to absorb as much of the French culture as possible.
I also could not have asked for a better group of peers to have done this trip with. At the beginning of the trip, we were 18 strangers, and by the end of the trip we were all good friends, and I know that we will be friends when we return to A&M in the fall. I learned so much from my peers and I am so grateful that I got to have this amazing experience with them. Before starting this experience, I was nervous that I wouldn’t make any friends and would be homesick after the first week. After the first couple of days of being in Strasbourg, I realized that I loved it and was learning so many new things, not only in the classroom but also from being in a new country. This study abroad experience changed my life in so many ways and gave me new perspectives of the world around me, and I will forever look back at this time as one of my favorite memories from college.
