A Unique Experience in Studying Abroad - Essay Example

As I started looking into opportunities that I felt would better my personhood and expand my horizons, I started to expand my visions overseas. I felt that studying abroad would offer a unique experience that would allow me a chance to see what life is like outside the safe surroundings I am used to, and help me grow and learn as a student, and as a person.

I decided I would be a representative of an international student, and I feel that many programs do not have enough well rounded, hard-working individuals willing to put as much into the program as the program deserves. I feel that by working as an international student I can help shape a new image of hard-working, American college students, and maybe make a little impact on how the rest of the world views college students here.

After deciding I wanted to commit myself abroad, I decided to enrol in the Paris Summer Program. I felt that this program would offer me a hand on the opportunity for me to further enhance and test my control of the French language in real-life experience, something that could only be achieved by working overseas. I also knew that this would also help me complete the requirements of my French major. Besides just this, I would also become integrated and introduced to a new and exciting culture, as well as the different ideas and thought patterns of the French people. I feel this is an invaluable experience and an experience that can only be truly attained by working with the culture first-hand in that very country. This will also help me to expand my horizons as an International Relations major and will help me learn how to work with other cultures, a valuable experience for one like me who wishes to further become involved in the field of International Relations. One of my aspirations and greatest dreams is to work with an international organization in Switzerland, which is a Francophone country. Thus, by participating in this program, I will gain greater insight into the French culture and civilization, an insight that can only be attained by experiencing the culture first-hand. I do not feel this growth can be attained by simply learning from a textbook, I feel that I need to experience this culture first hand and that there is no better place to truly learn the French culture than in France.

I also am excited about the academic advantages of studying abroad. The courses I would be taking overseas would greatly improve my aptitude in writing and speaking the French language, and would also offer me a confidence one could only attain by honing the language of its native country. One can simply learn French, but for one to be a true scholar, it is of utmost value to be able to say “I studied French in France”, and to have the belief in me that comes from this kind of work.