Time Abroad is Time Well Spent

Since I was a freshman in high school, I knew I wanted to live in Paris, or well at least somewhere in France. It was at the moment in French class when I was learning how to say "Bonjour, je m'appelle Adrienne...". At Western Kentucky University, when I was a sophomore I was looking at the study abroad site when I discovered the perfect program: International Studies Abroad. Seeing glimpses of Paris flutter across the screen, I knew that it as my destiny and in fact it was - I meet the man of my dreams - and today my husband ( but more about this fairy tale later)I studied abroad in 2008 for 4 months from February to June! Since October 2009, I have been currently studying my masters at a small private university, IESA, near Opera - more info about this soon.

It was an experience that became a true adventure and has continued to guide me today...my homestay changed at the last minute from the suburbs of Vincennes to the 15th arrondissement ( an area with a metro that goes to all the hotspots). I was at a really good school, The Catholic University of Paris, about the size of 5000 students. My grammar class that met 3x a week for four hours helped improve my French level and pushed me to study more. Even though I didn't meet very many real French people, the people I met were so nice and I have even stayed friends with a few of them.

All my time was not spent studying either, I had time to visit each area of Paris and take advantage of the great places: The Eiffel Tower, Grand Palais, the Louvre, etc etc.  The exhibitions that I took advantage of were amazing, the Dutch paintings in the Louvre, contemporary art at the Pompidou, the operas at Theatre de Champs-Elysees.

The point of this post is to express why someone should study abroad. The life lessons and the people one will meet is what pushes and encourages us to grow, when we return to our country of origin. Culturally we grow as people, learning about our "home" culture, the "study culture" and culture in general.  That is the reason why I returned to the city that can offer everyone something including love, a city that offered a hand to me, and now I'm handing you my hand, take advantage of study abroad!