Studying abroad with CIEE was a great experience. I traveled to Paris, France for 4 weeks this summer. The teacher was very kind and extremely informative. Our class was broken into two parts, the lecture portion which happened in the classroom, and the exploring portion, which we actually walked to the sites that we just learned about and saw them in person. The museums, the churches, the castles, were all just stunning.
I had a roommate, which was different for me, but with an open mind and positive attitude, we quickly became friends. We even stay in touch now, after the program is done. The Eiffel Tower is just as gorgeous as it is in the pictures. I went to the very top and was able to see all of the city of Paris. In that moment I felt invincible. I felt so empowered that I was able to make this life changing decision on my own and stuck it out. I am the shy type and so for me to be here, in Europe, has shown my confidence is there.
I chose CIEE because it was the most affordable for where I wanted to go. I trusted my study abroad advisor when she told me most students choose this program and I am so glad that I did. I saw the Palace of Versailles and the gardens, the Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysees, which is a gorgeous street filled with high end stores. I also took this as an opportunity to go Disneyland Paris. It was a dream come true. I spent an entire day there, living my best life.
The moment of realness for me was the food, the food was out of this world. I could have never imagined the great tastes of homemade baguettes, croissants, pastries, pastas, pizzas. Even their McDonalds tasted better. Fun fact, their meat used for McDonalds burgers come from local farms to deliver a better quality meat. You can literally taste the difference!
There have been marches going on every Friday or Saturday with a group called the yellow vests. They protest the issues that are occurring in their city. Our advisors Linda and JP encouraged us to steer clear of these protesters as sometimes it can get rowdy. We did as told, but we were able to watch live online via YouTube and that too was a great experience.
One down side to the trip is that we were not able to go inside Notre Dame because of the fire that happened a few weeks before. We were able to see the outside from a distance however. For our day trips we went to Giverny, Emboissy, and Givenchy. We saw Leonardo Da Vinci’s home, as well as some beautiful gardens. All in all it was one of the best times of my life and I will most definitely be doing it again soon. This is not an experience that should be missed in someone’s college career. Life friends were made and lifetime memories were created.
Terricka Foster is majoring in Biology (pre-professional) and spent the Summer 2019 semester studying abroad in Paris, France through CIEE. Terricka had the following to say about studying abroad, “This was an experience of a lifetime. I never thought I would have the confidence to do this, but I did, and I do not regret a single second of it. Go ahead and take that leap of faith, it will be the best decision you make.”
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