Semester in Bordeaux

As a student who received a poor French education in high school, my language proficiency was pretty horrible when I started my first collegiate French course. Obviously, I improved over the next two years, but I still was unable to communicate effectively. With any language, there exists a specific lexicon for the classroom setting and a specific lexicon for navigating one's everyday life. Therefore, when I arrived in Bordeaux, I was quickly reminded that my level of French was mediocre at best. I took the Middlebury Program very seriously, and I can honestly say that it was one of the best decisions that I ever made. I made leaps and bounds with regards to my language proficiency, and upon returning to the States, I discovered how much I had actually improved.

One of my most fulfilling memories occurred the week before I left France. After the fall semester ended, I stayed in Bordeaux through winter break. Consequently, I was in the city when the spring semester students arrived to begin their study abroad experience. I helped out during orientation, and during one such occasion, I recall addressing a group of students in one of the classrooms at Sciences Po. I talked briefly about my experience in Bordeaux for about a 5 minute interval, and then sat back down while the directors of the program took over. All of a sudden, I realized I had just talked without thinking about what I was saying. My mouth had simply opened and the words had come out.

The program is designed very well. The directors are amazing people and great leaders, and my host-family situation could not have been better. I had the best semester of my entire life.