When I first arrived to Aix en Provence to commence this new and exciting chapter in my life I remember feeling anxious and nervous. I was not sure how well I would integrate myself with this new group of kids for the following four months. Now that the has come to an end, I feel comfortable saying that I met some amazing people and have made some great friends who I will remember always. With the people that I got to meet while studying abroad I created some amazing memories that I will definitely cherish for a long time.
I found myself surrounded by very open minded people as myself from the north eastern region of the United States. People who opened up to me and allowed me to join their great group. On a daily basis they helped me challenge myself by indulging in cultural and intellectual conversations and experiences, since most of us were all here to learn french. I feel like as a group we all helped each other with the process of learning a new language. I appreciate that I was able to surround myself with people who were looking to reach similar goals as I was during these four months. Although as we now all sit together and study for our finals for the semester, it has been rough to accept the fact that a few days from now I wont be able to see them again for a long time. At the same time we all know the next time we see each other we will be able to reminisce the moments we shared together while in France.
We also had the opportunity to meet people from the area from our same age group. This experience was truly eye opening, since it gave us all a sense of comfort. This was because of the fact that at the end of the day no one truly understands the struggle of a college student more that other college students. Except in this case we got the opportunity to see it from a different cultural perspective, and understood what it is college students in France and in Europe go through in comparison to what we go through in US. While mingling with the french, we also got to learn more about the younger generation, which is very different compared to what you see when living with a host family.
Overall, these last few months were one of the best times of my life, and as excited as I may be to return home, I know I will always cherish these moments that I was able to experience while abroad.