Abroad for a Semester in France

The AFS France program is without a doubt life-changing. The wealth of lingual, cultural, and social knowledge blended with the new perspectives of French ideology helped me grow as a person and benefits my future endeavors. Throughout my time in France I was faced with many challenges as any exchange student does. Immersing yourself into a new family, school, language and culture is a very daunting task. From the time I entered the program and stepped off the plane back in America the support from the staff and students of AFS was detrimental to my enjoyment of the program. They would help with the problems I would have, the ideas we would craft, and even the petty drama every teenager faces. The experiences I had were meaningful to not just me, but many friends and family back home. For example, my great-grandfather (my grandfather's dad) fought and died for the liberation of France in WWII. I was able to visit his grave at the Brittany American Cemetery and Memorial in St. James, France with my host family. This meant so much to my grandpa back home that every time I see him he thanks me and my host family for making it a point in my AFS experience. The memories I made in France through AFS are something that I will cherish undoubtedly for the rest of my life.