The Overall Experience

When I stepped away from my parents into that security line four months back, I lost my breath the way you do when you’ve been hit in the stomach. It took all I had in me to hold back those tears that had yet to show throughout all my goodbyes, but I picked up my head, took a deep breath and proceeded to empty my pockets into the plastic bins. Little did I know that 17 short weeks later I would be prepping to do the same, but in the opposite direction, and as a completely changed person.

Upon my arrival in Rennes, unknown was something I had habitually avoided in my past. How I came to decide to study abroad I’m still unsure of, but now that I did I can’t imagine moving forward without this experience in my past. From my commuting walks to and from classes and the weekend excursions with CIEE all over Bretagne, to the hours spent at the dinner table and the weekly market visits with my host mom, I have come to understand a language and culture that once lived only in my imagination.

I would be lying if I tried to deny how much I have missed home during my time abroad, but when asked if I ever regret my decision to come to France, there is no contemplation necessary: absolutely not. I have grown in more ways than I ever knew possible.

Prior to boarding that airplane my French was that of a tourist’s, I had never lived in a city, called an apartment home, roomed with cats, or navigated a metro. When I was first introduced to the setting for the next four months of my life, it was like taking my world at home, flipping it upside down, rotating it 180 degrees, and giving it a little shake. There was panic, shock, fear, and most of all, self-doubt. I couldn’t fathom how much I was going to have to invest to make some type of life for myself in this foreign place, but apparently, I had it in me because here I am at the end of my semester writing about it for all of you.

My experience started with difficulties, as all matters of change do, but stepping outside of comfort zones is the only way to grow. I had kept my circle rather small until I arrived in France, so inevitably I was going to breach the borders by studying an ocean away from home for four months. However, through all the growing pains, I learned to traverse the metro & bus system, I can now successfully take part in a French dinner party and not only understand but also chime in, I know how to maintain my health and fitness in a city, and most of all I learned that I was able to conquer these months away from my familiarities all along.

I have created invaluable memories along this journey, and just as I boarded my plane four months ago to come to France, I will be leaving with a heavy yet joyful heart. I know it is time to leave this beautiful chapter of my life behind, but I also know I must do so only in order to write the next

Anna Izzo

Saint Lawrence University