Coming Home
The most concrete memory that I have brought home with me this semster is the difference of mentalities between one country to another. I had always been told that French professors don’t consider their students to be “gifted and special” like our friendly American professors, rather they believe that no one is good enough to get a 100% let alone an 80%. As much as I already knew this, the reality of the situation never really hit me until I got a grade back in one of my classes and was horrified with my evaluation. While being in France was fantastic, it really made me appreciate the US. You never really realize what you miss until you don’t have it; kind of the grass is always greener type thing. While being away people always ask me do you miss your school in the states? And I reply: “ya, I really miss the people.” I have had some really great professors at Allegheny, and I believe it is important to have a good student-teacher relationship, and having French professors made me realize that they have a totally different mentality in regards to this situation. And that’s alright, it’s their method, and it is good to experience different teaching methods, because it’s another preparatory device for the future even if it can be a challenge to accept. Study-abroad is an opportunity that is incomparable with anything else. And not just in an academic sense. To truly understand a country and its people, one has to live there and learn the customs and habits of the citizens; find out what’s popular and what’s taboo. I had a pretty good grasp of the French culture when I first got to Angers, but after having lived there for a semester, I started to notice regional differences I had never picked up on before such as the variety of accents, people’s natures, and just little details that an average tourist might not catch on to right away. I would definitely recommend study abroad to anyone, and that they go into it with an open mind and an open heart.