A time of enormous growth and unbounded freedom

You know that pull to grow. It's uncomfortable and scary and exhilarating. You start to feel it as soon as the thought comes into your head-- what if I said yes? Yes to attending an event where you don't know anyone well. Yes to applying for a job that you really want. Yes to jumping off a bridge into water. Yes to ANYTHING where you risk to fall or fail. I applied to many USAC programs before France. It was during the pandemic, so I fell and failed every time. A year passed and I was about to give up on my dream of studying abroad. But then I looked at the France program and I felt a pull. I had studied Spanish, not French. And now I was about to graduate. It didn't make any sense. But what if I tried one more time... When I received the admission notification, I said yes.

Two semesters as part of this program changed me more than the past four years of university ever had. There is no equivalent in terms of cultural, social, emotional, and intellectual growth to being plunged into a foreign country. You simply have no choice but to grow into the enormous space that has opened up around you full of new sights and sounds and smells that you never could have imagined. There is nothing familiar around you to make you feel safe. But there is also nothing familiar around you to tell you who you are or what you are capable of. This is the potential of freedom. You can be who you have always been scared to be because there are no longer any limits. You can say yes to everything. Yes to speaking a language you're not fluent in. Yes to activities and course subjects you never would have tried before. Yes to field trips to cities you've never heard of. Yes to starting conversations, yes to being confident in the face of the fear.

Of course this is not to say that you really are alone. The Pau, France program is impressively supportive. The on-site staff are kind and deeply invested in the personal development of each student who comes. You will never feel unsafe or unsure of what to do next. But the experience is yours, and whether you want to focus on the culture and language of france, the bonds of new and profound friendships with interesting people from all backgrounds, or your own growth as a competent and open-minded traveler and observer of the world, you will walk away from this program with all three. The world is waiting. Oh, and don't forget to bring good walking shoes.