Well, after the most stressful, busy, complicated, and strange term of my life (thus far!), I’m happy to be writing this post from the comfort of my couch at home in Bend. I’ve got my cat next to me on the couch, my family and I are currently watching Netflix cooking shows, and a delicious Christmas dinner is in the oven... I am living the good life, and feeling incredibly grateful for it all.
This past term was filled with a lot of self-realizations in all realms: educational, professional, and personal. I won’t go too deep into the realizations that I’ve had, but to summarize, I’ve realized that:
a) I’m (still) truly happy with my decision to switch from being a Public Relations major to being an Advertising major.
b) When I enter the workforce after college, I really want to work for an agency or even in-house at a company that is actively working to make the world a better place and have a positive impact in people’s lives.
c) Hard work pays off. Really.
d) Going back to France is the right thing for me to do right now, regardless of what I feel I may be missing out on back home (FOMO, anyone?)
Though the term was crazy and felt like a total whirlwind, I was able to find many things I enjoyed, like meeting new friends and getting closer to those I already had, attending the AAF Student Advertising Career Conference, learning a ton in my super cool classes, like my anthropology class called Scientific Racism, and, perhaps most excitingly, getting ready to study abroad in Paris.
Yes, that’s right, I’m going back to France! For those who might not know, I took a gap year in Arras, France through Rotary Youth Exchange back in 2015 (you can check out my blog from my year in France here!). Since I returned home from my absolute dream of a year, I have been wanting to go back ever since. Every single day since July 20, 2016, I have thought about what it will be like to finally go back, see my favorite places, and be reunited with my incredible host families and French friends. And now I’m only 21 days away from my return!
I foresee this becoming a bit of a travel blog while I am away, so I’ll take this opportunity to explain the program I will be on while in France. I will be studying political science and humanities at L’Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (otherwise known as Sciences Po Paris), which is one of the most highly regarded political science institutions in the world. Though I haven’t ever studies political science, I am excited to have this opportunity to learn something new and expand my world view in a whole new way. I will also be working on my thesis for the Clark Honors College, which will be examining how cultural differences between France and the US lead to differences in advertising and branding, and why these things work the way that they do. I’ll be living with a friend I made on Rotary Youth Exchange, and a friend from back home in Oregon. I’ll be in Paris from January until May, which counts as one semester or two terms.
My lovely mother and I in San Francisco for my French visa appointment. The appointment itself took 20 minutes, but we were lucky enough to spend three days in the city!
Because of this, I was only in Eugene for one term. About two weeks ago, I moved completely out of my apartment, said some goodbyes, and headed home to Bend to prepare for my time abroad. My mom and I also headed down to San Francisco to get my visa paperwork filed and completed (photo above!). However, leaving Eugene made me a bit more emotional than I ever thought that it would. I always believed that leaving for France, my second home, would come completely easily. I thought I would pack up and fly away. Simple. Easy. That is proving to not quite be the case. Thinking about what I will be missing out on during the next four months is hard. There are classes I would have loved to take and experiences I would have loved to experienced, but for now, that’s not in the cards. But, hey, I’m not complaining! Paris is looking better and better each day (well, not politically, but I digress), and this is the opportunity of a lifetime.
So, for now, it’s the end of an era of me in Eugene, and I won’t be back until next September (other than for a visit to friends before I leave, of course!), but I can’t wait to see where the coming months take me.
