Guest blogger - Solié Thress

The final excursion of the CIEE Rennes Honor Program is a canoe trip down a beautiful river with the friends you’ve made in the program. The amazing part of CIEE is that everyone has a group. There’s a place for everyone so when it came to picking a canoeing partner, the hardest part was finding someone as competitive as you to race the other boats. 

I partnered with someone who wanted to be first but also was willing to have a Disney sing along to make the rowing feel like less of a workout. While we sailed down the river under the old bridges and willow trees, we sang songs from Frozen at the top of our lungs while other groups joined in. I think this trip has helped us all learn to let loose so while some may find it silly to sing Disney songs, most people in the program just went along with it. The beauty of this program is that you will make amazing friendships but continuing them when you return home is up to you. This allows everyone to choose who they want to be for this month. You can choose to be the same person you are at home, or you can show your favorite version of yourself. Either way, you will find people here who understand you, and leaving them is proving to be the hardest part.