During this study abroad opportunity, I was able to to take two courses: French for Diplomacy and Religion, Law and Human Rights on a comparative level. The French course helped fulfill my French minor while the Religion course counted towards my IR degree. This was an opportunity for me to immerse myself in the French language and gain a deeper understanding of the language as well as the culture.

While I had studied abroad in the past, I had never taken an accelerated semester where I was expected to balance six credits in five weeks while living in a foreign country. This opportunity made a way for me to considerably grow in my time management, focus and overall allowed me to identity my personal interests and passions. The growth I experienced in my French language skills was another aspect I did not expect. Although I knew immersion was the best way to learn, I did not expect that five short weeks would impact me as much as it did.
This experience was much more than taking classes in a foreign country; it opened my eyes to the world that exists beyond my own and made me want to yearn to explore more.

The experience I gained in France has tied into my research interest in many ways. My current honors thesis was impacted by aspects of my study abroad experience. Additionally, this opportunity has added to my role as a global ambassador at Syracuse University. Upon my return, I applied and was accepted to attend the Global Inclusion conference hosted by Diversity Abroad in San Francisco this October as an SU student representative. After returning from this conference, I will be working closely with the SU study abroad office to create material that will be used to promote Diversity and Inclusion in Syracuse abroad locations. As someone who has studied abroad multiple times, and especially this summer with the aid of the Honors program, I was able to bring a lot of my personal experience to add to this general conversation about Diversity and Inclusion.