Over the course of June, a group of about 20 Tulane undergraduates participated in a study abroad program in the beautiful city of Paris. The program, centering primarily on Legal Studies and Business and Public Health classes, allowed the students to use the city of lights as a living classroom, immersing ourselves in all facets of Parisian culture and lifestyles. For me, participating in this experience was one of the most perspective-defining moments of my academic career. As an International Relations major, I am incredibly fascinated by other cultures and perspectives.
I took two classes during my time in Paris: a comparative politics class on the differences between American and European privacy law and a class on the French medical system. Both classes helped me draw comparisons between our cultures while also highlighting key differences. My Comparative Politics class was enlightening in terms of the fundamental policy differences between Americans and Europeans. For our final assignment, as a class, we had to create software in accordance with both US and EU privacy regulations. My class decided to pitch an app that alerted users to the presence of monitoring systems in public places, ensuring users were aware when their privacy rights were being violated. That we pulled it off speaks volumes about our depth of learning in one month.
My Public Health class had similarly effective learning results. I have never had the privilege of taking a Public Health class; however, I thought that it would be an enriching experience that would allow me to gain knowledge and understanding of foreign nations' social systems. This class proved to widen my perspective. We were tasked with interviewing Parisians to gain knowledge of their personal experiences within the h system. I found the interpersonal discussions and shared experiences across nationalities to be so edifying. This class truly enhanced my ability to connect with people’s experiences, despite our obvious differences.
One of the most compelling parts of the study abroad experience was our three-day trip to Rouen and Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer in Normandy. During this trip, we were able to visit Omaha Beach and the Normandy American Cemetery. These two stops held the most gravitas, as they are the sites of some of the most remarkable and tragic parts of the U.S.’s involvement in World War II. While Normandy resonates with Americans due to the D-Day invasion, being there in person revealed the absolute destruction that resulted from World War II. Being an ocean away from that in the U.S. can create a sense of artificial distance from the tragedies that occurred there. Though the Paris trip was incredibly educational and scintillating, this portion of the trip was sobering as it grounded us as students back into how privileged we are to experience the incredible opportunities that we have at our fingertips.
While I was in France, I visited museums almost daily, mastered the metro, enjoyed a weekend holiday in Nice, and ordered in French at a café like a Parisian. These experiences provided me with the opportunity to make myself comfortable in a situation that is highly different from my lived experience thus far. I believe that study abroad experiences are one of the most realistic learning events in one’s educational life, as they teach you how to be comfortable in the uncomfortable and how to adapt even when things seem so dissimilar to what you are accustom. My month in Paris left me with not only more than stamps on my passport or completed class credits, but also with a new perspective on how to view the world and my place in it; one that I hope to carry with me for a lifetime.
