Reflection
If I had the chance to go back to my freshman-year self and tell him everything that happened during our four years at the University of Florida, I’m pretty sure he would not be able to believe it. First of all, there was a worldwide pandemic that forced the whole world into quarantine, derailing all our plans. On top of this, we finally started learning French and becoming more in touch with our culture, a goal we thought was impossible post-high school. Lastly, we studied abroad, not in England, Scotland, or another English-speaking country, but in France, where we got closer to our family and began perfecting the language. Beyond this, throughout our many global experiences with the University of Florida and the International Scholars Program, we met a countless number of people who reshaped our view of the world and whom we can now call friends. Overall, over the past four years, I have grown and changed beyond my wildest dreams.
One of the most pivotal choices I made was during the fall semester of my freshman year: I decided to register for a beginning French class. When talking to my advisor about this decision, he explained to me that my Spanish credits from high school already covered my language requirement and that he didn’t believe that taking French would benefit me. I was already in a very determined and defiant mood after changing my major and withdrawing from one of my courses, so I decided to not follow his advice and sign up for the class anyway, the best decision I’ve ever made.
Growing up in a mixed-culture home, where my father is American and my mother is French, came with a lot of confusion about my cultural identity. I was constantly surrounded by American culture, cuisine, and customs and searched for any little way to incorporate my French side into my daily life. Unfortunately, despite my mother’s efforts, I never learned how to speak French growing up, but I did understand a lot of what was spoken around me, constantly hearing it from my mom, grandmother, and aunts. This lack of French-speaking knowledge is what drew me to sign up for this initial French class in the first place. In this first French course, I was met with some of the sweetest and most friendly people, some of whom I am still very close with to this day. Everyone there was on a different path, studying many different things from political science to aerospace engineering, but we all united in our desire to learn French. The love and family-like environment that I experienced throughout that semester is what ultimately made me decide to continue with my French education, eventually ending with me deciding to minor in French and Francophone studies.
While pursuing this minor, I obviously took many different French classes with many different people, each with their own experiences. One experience that was constantly brought up and talked about was the idea of studying abroad. For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to study abroad and feed that little travel bug that lived inside me, but I was always afraid of going to a country that spoke a foreign language. I was constantly looking at programs in English-speaking countries, but never fully committed to one because it didn’t seem like the right fit. After three semesters of hearing stories of other people’s study abroad experiences and watching presentation after presentation about the different programs offered, I finally decided that maybe it was time for me to expand my horizons and actually apply what I’ve been learning and look at programs in France. Within a few weeks of searching, I found an exchange program in Paris that felt like the right fit for me, so I applied. After getting accepted, I filled out all the paperwork, packed my bags, and shipped off to France for one of the most unforgettable experiences of my life.
When I was abroad, for the sake of learning as much as I could, I made it my mission to make friends with as few Americans as possible. Too many times have I heard of or seen people go abroad and come back with little knowledge of the country or area they were in because they got caught in the “American Bubble,” surrounding themselves with other Americans abroad and never truly immersing themselves in the culture. After this experience, I can confidently say that I did not fall into this trap and managed to make quite an international group of friends. This group of friends consisted of people from the United States, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, Austria, Norway, Finland, France, and even the Czech Republic. Between all of us, there was always something new to learn. There was never a time when someone wasn’t comparing their culture to someone else’s, asking questions and sharing personal stories. Truthfully, I learned more about the history of Germany and Italy, their languages, and people from these friends than from any world cultures class. This learning opened my eyes to the beauty behind different cultures and only deepened my love for travel and exploration.
This love is now my main drive, being incorporated in many of my goals. In fact, I accepted a position in the Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF), where I will be teaching english to primary school kids in the south of France for the 2023-2024 school year. As I part ways with the University of Florida and head on my journey to medical school, I am searching for schools and programs with a focus on global medicine, the perfect mix of cultural learning and science. This goal would not even have been an option if not for the International Scholars Program and all that it offers. I cannot wait to see what the future holds for me and how these past experiences further guide my life.
