Why I Chose to Study in France

When my older sister studied abroad during her junior year of college and returned home with a plethora of exciting stories, new memories, and friends from around the world, I knew that I also wanted to spend a semester exploring a different country. I wanted to follow in her footsteps and go out of my comfort zone and try something completely new.

So, during the first month of my junior year, I began to research different places where I could study in the Spring. Fordham has a whole website dedicated to searching their dozens of study abroad programs, meaning that I could study virtually anywhere in the world. Going in, I knew that I wanted to study somewhere in Europe. My sister had studied in India for her semester, and while she really enjoyed it, I wanted to go somewhere that was a little closer to home.

At Fordham, students are required to take four semesters of a language. During my fall semester of my junior year, I was in the process of taking my third semester of French, a language that I took online in high school but because I did not retain any of the information I learned during those three years of French, I essentially had to start from scratch my freshman year of college. Because I still had one semester of French left to take, I wanted to find a study abroad program that would allow me to take French and finish off my four semester requirement so I did not have to worry about it my senior year.

There were several programs in France that Fordham offered, however most of them required students to be fluent in French because classes were taught primarily in French. Although I was good at memorizing French vocab, and I knew how to have a basic conversation, there was no way I was going to be able to take a class in French and understand even half of what was being taught.

Luckily, I came across the study abroad program in Reims, France, where classes are taught in both French AND English. The university, called SciencesPo, is known for its political science classes and many notable French politicians have attended the school. Because SciencesPo checked off both of the options on my list (it had French language classes and regular classes taught in English) I knew that I wanted to attend this university.

Although the language class ended up being much more intensive than I imagined, as there were six hours of French class a week and it was taught exclusively in French, I am so glad that I picked Reims as my home away from home. Because my major is Digital Media, and SciencesPo specializes in political science and history, I was able to take a few classes that did not relate to my major, but ended up being very interesting, such as Entrepreneurship. Ultimately, I am so glad that I chose France as the place to finish off my fourth semester of French. Not only did I get to live with four French roommates and get to practice my French with people on the street and with the very patient woman in the boulangerie everyday, but I also got the opportunity to explore a lesser-known region in France for five months, which proved to be a unique and unforgettable experience. Whether you go to a completely different country like India, or a place closer to home, like France, I guarantee that you too will return home with exciting stories, new memories, and friends from around the world.

Wikipedia Follow-Up

Earlier, I wrote a post about the SciencesPo Wikipedia page and how I changed a section to add more information. Specifically, in a section that described the seven campuses of the university, I added a paragraph about an athletics and arts competition between the campuses that happens at the end of every school year. Because some time had passed since I added to the Wiki page, I wanted to check to see if my addition was still on the page.

When I visited the page again, my modification was deleted. However, there was a message at the top of the page that informed me that my portion was deleted because there was no citation. So, I retyped my change and added it with the citation. Hopefully now that it is properly cited it stays on the page!

SciencesPo Wikipedia

As I was doing some research about SciencesPo, my French university, I noticed that its Wikipedia page lacked some important information. Mainly, it gives a description of all seven campuses, but it does not include how these campuses are connected. The original post simply had a headline that said "Campuses" followed by a sentence that read: 

Campuses

Sciences Po has seven campuses in France. ^[30]

Every year, all seven campuses come together to compete in athletic and artistic competitions. I added this fact to the post. It now reads: 

Campuses

Sciences Po has seven campuses in France. Every May, at the end of the academic year, all seven campuses come together for the inter-campus Collegiades de SciencesPo tournament, also known as the MiniCrit. At the tournament, students represent each campus and compete against one another in arts and athletic competitions. Different events include athletic games such as volleyball and football, as well as artistic competitions such as dance and singing.^[30][31]

I thought that it was important to include this additional information because the students at SciencesPo are very invested in this tournament and emphasize the importance of representing one's campus in the competition. In addition, many of the arts and athletic associations prepare all year for the Minicrit and it is one of the biggest events of the year at SciencesPo. I also thought it was interesting to see that even though all seven campuses are separate and spread throughout France, they all still come together every year for a celebration and friendly competition.