Great Expectations
There is a saying that man's greatest fear, is the fear of the unknown. This saying is not too far from the truth. Stepping out of one's safety bubble to go and explore the world is always a challenge at first, because it is leaving one's comfort zone to experience new things. I feel as though Allegheny is my safety bubble, and having left it to study in Angers is breaking away from the comfort zone that I know and cherish. This fall almost felt like the fall of my freshman year. There was that same fear of the unknown. I didn't know the other students, the professors, the campus, or even the town. I had the same feeling of nervous excitement. Part of me was feeling really reserved, but the other part of me really wanted to reach out and start to get to know my environment and the people in it. I have only been in Angers for a week, but I already feel like I'm starting to get the hang of things. The best part about living in a town like Angers is that you can walk to everything, and I do! I live about 10 minutes from the school, and about 15 minutes to the train station and the center of town. And while promenading around the town, as opposed to driving, you get a feel for the town and get to interact with the culture and the people one on one.
I hope to gain many things from my stay in Angers, but I also believe I will only get as much out of it as I put in it. Academically, I hope to come back to Allegheny with the strongest French I have ever spoken and the best grammar I have ever written. Personally, I hope to gain other perspectives from some of the international students. I seek to understand their cultures and views and get to know as many of them as possible. CIDEF at the l’Université Catholique de L’Ouest is an interesting and unique place to study. I have really enjoyed meeting students from all over the world. In my class alone there are five nationalities represented, and at lunch you never know who you will sit next to and what country he or she will be from.
I really the love the international vibe the environment produces. It’s so great to walk down the hall any given day and hear a mix of different languages blending together. It’s rather amazing to see international students who are learning French as their 3rd, 4th, or even 5th language. I really admire the Asian students learning French and English, because it is a completely different alphabet and dialect. I have a lot of respect for all the students at CIDEF, especially the beginners in level 1 who have stepped far from what they feel is safe and comfortable and have pushed themselves to come to a strange country to study French because they are so passionate about it. The possibilities are endless, but the best thing about taking classes in a place like this, is that because it is such an international environment, everyone is interested in meeting new people and accepting of others.