Studying abroad has always been a dream of mine. Last spring, I lived in Amiens, France. An hour and a half from Paris, canals wind through the city, and a beautiful Gothic cathedral towers over downtown. I took classes at the university that included a mix of studio art, art history, and French. I loved wandering around the streets, visiting local boulangeries and magasins. I traveled to several countries during my time abroad and loved the opportunity to visit so many unique places (and specifically their art museums).

Leading up to my trip abroad, I was a mix of anxiety and excitement. I prepared as best I could, but you can never quite expect every challenge you will encounter. My first night in Amiens, my small suitcase was stolen from the dorm lobby. I was incredibly disappointed and immediately started spiraling. However, I did my best to move forward and keep my chin up. It was situations like this that I couldn’t have planned for, but that taught me I can get through rough patches.

My expectations heading abroad were that I would befriend people from all over the world, travel, and advance my French language skills. While I do feel that I succeeded in these areas, they weren’t without their complications. Meeting other international students took longer than I had hoped. But as the semester progressed, I met my international peers and made friends organically in my classes. I was able to travel over long weekends and school breaks and saw many different countries as well as nearby French cities. Communicating in French wasn’t perfect, but I was determined. Many people appreciated my enthusiastic, albeit flawed, French. Ultimately, even though the semester looked a bit different than I had imagined, I made great friends, went to incroyable new places, and got out of my comfort zone.  

My global theme is Public and Global Health, and I hope to become a medical illustrator. I took a comic drawing class at my university, and I had so much fun learning about how to convey a story using art. I hope to use what I learned in this class in my work to make scientific information accessible across demographics. Healthcare was an interesting topic of discussion. France offers its residents free healthcare and inexpensive treatments. Thankfully, I didn’t have to visit a doctor during my time abroad, but I visited the local pharmacies. In France, many medications are more natural and herb-based, and the volume of medications is more regulated. You can’t find medicines at the grocery store or anywhere other than the pharmacy. The international office gave us all French–English healthcare guides which offered advice, vocabulary, and useful phrases for health-related issues you may encounter. I found this illustrated pocket guide to be a great resource and an example of how art and healthcare, and even travel, can be combined.  

Amiens is a very culturally diverse town. Growing up in Montana, I was not surrounded by as many different cultures as in France, so I enjoyed being immersed in the diversity of food, religion, and discourse. One thing that surprised me was how prominent the English language was. All the international students spoke English, and that was how we communicated. It was convenient for me, but I felt a sort of strange privilege having English as my first language. Many people questioned why I bother to study another language when I know English. Ultimately, it is important to keep other languages alive to preserve cultures, and learning another language has challenged me intellectually. Having a strong grasp of French allowed me to travel smoothly throughout the country and make friends with locals.

This experience forced me to navigate many tricky situations and advocate for myself often. It reminded me that I can do hard things, but that it’s ok to lean on those around me for help when I need it. I believe my leadership skills have greatly benefited from the personal growth I experienced on this trip. I made myself available for my friends who were experiencing homesickness or other issues while abroad. To foster community, I organized a Galentine’s party for all the international gals. I wanted to gather everyone and include them in a tradition I have back home. Many girls later told me how nice the event was, and I was so pleased to have created this moment.  

I will cherish the memories from this trip and always appreciate how my time abroad contributed to where I am today. The challenges paired with the highlights made this experience entirely worth it. À la prochaine fois, Amiens!