As you have probably read in my bio, exchange program at Sciences Po marks my 7th time studying abroad. Everything started 6 years ago when I went for a month-long English language intensive course in Malta, then there was the US State Department FLEX Program followed by a difficult year back home and my first experience of reverse culture shock. In 2014 I became an international student at Northeastern, then in 2015 I participated in the Dialogue of Civilizations program in Japan. 2016 was full of travels. It started with ASB in Costa Rica which was followed up by another Dialogue to Morocco and then, almost immediately, I started my first co-op in Vienna, Austria.
Now, when you are familiar with my travel background it is probably needless to say that I have attended countless orientation programs. Moreover, in 2015 I was welcoming newly arrived international students at Northeastern as a part of the Office of Global Services mentoring program. That is why when I was starting orientation at Sciences Po I certainly had a lot to compare it with.
I would like to begin by stating two very important facts: participation in the international student orientation at Sciences Po is not mandatory, moreover, participants are subject to a fee of around $250. Why did I decide to participate in the orientation? Well, first of all, because Northeastern covers the orientation fee, and, believe me, when you are getting ready to live in a city as expensive as Paris those $250 do seem like a deal breaker. Secondly, I believe in an unbreakable social networking power of orientations. There is no better place to meet new people. Feeling lost, uncomfortable and a little bit lonely at times helps to bond with people like nothing else…well, except the love for political discussions might be a better bonding mechanism, but from my observations so far every single Sciences Po student loves those. Going a little bit further ahead I must say that my believe in power of orientations didn’t let me down and I indeed was able to meet many great people from almost every corner of the World. But before coming to conclusions let’s talk a little more about the structure of the orientation and some of the interesting things that I observed.
Sciences Po orientation is more than a week long, which was certainly the longest one in my experience. It started off by all the familiar to every American college student activities: ice breakers, general campus tour etc. Sciences Po Paris (the institution has several other branches across France) does not have a traditional American-like campus, I found it rather similar to my native Russia where university buildings are spread across the city. All Sciences Po buildings are located in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, they are in a walking distance from each other and surrounded by multiple trendy boutiques and little cafes. This neighbourship with the city and almost complete integration with it helps to avoid the feeling of living in a little college bubble which many American urban institutions are faulty of.
The highlight of the orientation weekend were the visit to the Louvre and a sightseeing boat tour, followed by an alternative tour of Paris given by one of the student team leaders. It was my first weekend in Paris and the time when I realized the very meaning of Parisian chic: from Louvre to Sacré-Cœur Basilica and to canal Saint Martin, Parisian beauty is slightly sloppy and preserved In little details… I probably could compare it with a woman who walks down the street on an early Sunday morning in plane blue jeans and a t-shirt, her hair is uncombed…the shade of red lipstick on her lips attracts the attention of passersby and they can’t keep their eyes off her. That is Paris. The very fact that the sightseeing activities were included into the orientation program reinforces the fact that Sciences Po has a Parisian pride. The institution is proud of not simply being located in the city but of moving and growing in the same pace.
A rather relaxing weekend was followed by 5 days of Methodology Classes. The class is a mandatory part of the orientation which equates to 2 ECTs credits and aimed at introducing students to the types of assignments they might be given at Sciences Po and how to take them. I must say that Sciences Po system differs only slightly from the overall approach taken on by Northeastern CSSH. That is why I have found 10 hours of methodology classes rather unnecessary, to my surprise, many international students in my group who study outside of the US and Canada never given an oral presentation to their class in their entire college career, which by no means makes their home institutions better or worse. It made me think, however, that the reality of the people with American diplomas having a greater advantages in the international job markets, requires institutions such as Sciences Po to restructure and “americanize” their system of education in order to live up to the standard. Some other examples of americanization of the higher education that come to my mind are the Higher School of Economics in Russia and Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan. Is it the success of American soft power? I’ll probably find the answer to that in my Competing for Influence class, or by looking back at this blog and analyzing my experience at Sciences Po as a whole…
