Prospective Students

Abby:

I lived with a host family, and each morning I would make breakfast in the family kitchen. The apartment had a fridge and a stovetop, and food for breakfast was provided by the host family. On weekdays, my first class started at 9 am, so I would leave the house around 8:20 am to catch the bus. On days when the weather was nice, I would walk through the town to get to school, leaving at the same time I would if I took the bus. 

My morning class each day was a French language class at the Collége International de Cannes. We had a break in the middle of class, which we usually spent across the street at a little café that had delightful croissants. Class ended at 12 pm, and I would eat lunch in the cafeteria at the collége. Classes would let out at 5:30, and I would walk home to my host family, who lived near the community center where our afternoon classes took place.

At the beginning of my time in Cannes, I often visited the beach during free afternoons or went shopping in the many shops along the Rue D'Antibes, the main road through Cannes. As it got colder, I started to spend my afternoons either at the Mediatheque (Library with books and movies), or at a local coffee shop, writing. I got to live my childhood fantasy of sitting in charming French cafés and writing fiction, and yes, it was magical. 

In the late afternoon, I would return to my host family's apartment to make dinner.  In the early evening, my host family would put on the news or a talk show. 

Emma:

My program involved a lot of travelling which I LOVED, there were weeks where we would spend time in Panama City and walking/taking the bus to Spanish classes at Universidad Tecnologica De Panama. Other times we would be travelling and conducting field research. 

An average day would look like this:
8am - Breakfast with homestay families
9am - head to class, lectures for maybe an hour or two
10 am - 12 pm - head into the surrounding area/ngos to do active work with the theory we had learned
lunch was almost always provided
1pm - 8 pm - fieldwork and data collections for projects, ending time depended on data needed to collect, (e.g. amphibian data needed to be done at night between 7pm-10pm)

Abby:

Studying abroad in France greatly improved my French language comprehension and confidence in speaking. It was very empowering to see how much I had improved without even realizing it. I also grew in confidence meeting new people, and having conversations about differences in culture. I feel that interacting with people in another country has given me a better understanding of who I am and how my upbringing in the United States has impacted who I am as a person. 

Emma:

I feel as though I know so much more about myself personally than I ever did before. I got to meet and work with incredible people who shared my interests as well as professors who are so passionate about their fields and teaching. I made lifelong friends and so many memories I can even count them.