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Student Reflections

Goodbye Paris!

Ashley Shak
December 21, 2017

Walking along the river. Alexander III Bridge

 “If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man [or woman], then wherever you go for the rest of your life it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.”

When I first heard this quote upon my arrival in Paris, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at the stereotypical adoration everyone bestows on the City of Lights. In addition, the quote is from one of the most overzealous writers (in my opinion) that has ever graced the streets of Paris— Ernest Hemingway. But after 5 months of living in this city, I am only starting to finally see the truth behind these grandiose statements. It’s a shame that I’m not staying for the rest of the year like my fellow classmates on exchange, as I know I’ve only just scraped the surface of what makes this city so special.

Paris is not and probably will never be my favorite city in the world, but I can definitely understand the pull this city has on certain people. There is nothing quite like living here— walking down the cobbled streets in the Marais, shopping at concept stores in St. Germain des Pres, or grabbing a coffee along the Canal St. Martin. Paris deserves every cliché, both positive and not-so-much, bestowed upon it. One of my last nights in Paris, I was sitting outside of a bakery and eating a pastry, while listening to an accordion player across the street from me. I started to realize how Parisian this whole situation felt…yet at the same time, nothing I was doing felt like I was trying too hard to play the part. Walk around with a baguette under your arm and drink a glass of wine with every meal, and no one will judge you. The French are unapologetically themselves (which is one of the reasons why a lot of foreigners are initially rubbed the wrong way), which certainly makes for one hell of a home for a semester.

I finished my last final at Sciences Po last week, and spent the past few days saying goodbye to the friends I’ve made in the past 6 months, both at school and outside of it. I have had to deal with these bittersweet moments and departures for the past three times I have gone abroad, and it doesn’t get any easier with experience or time. The only comforting fact is knowing how easy it is to keep in touch with international friends in this day and age, with resources such as Facebook and Whatsapp. Last month, I traveled to Berlin with my old roommates from Dublin, and earlier this semester I was reunited in Paris with my old flatmates from Cape Town. I’m extremely lucky to have met such great friends while I’ve been abroad, that are willing to put in so much of an effort to keep in touch with me.

Finals at Sciences Po were difficult to say the least, as they were unlike any exams I have experienced in America. All of them were essay based, and these aren’t the essay “short response” questions we are given on finals at Northeastern. No— these are full on 5 to 6-page papers, that require a specific French structure hammered into us from day one of orientation. In general, my exams this semester were a lot more thorough, since we were expected to draw on every little thing we have learned in the past 4 months when we wrote our essays. We were not given any study guides or practice tests that could clue us in on what would be on our exam. Instead, it was expected that we study and know the material inside and out…and as a result, I am confident that I took everything away from my classes that I had the opportunity to.

For my public international law class, we were allowed to use all of our case studies, notes, glossaries, and textbooks from the semester. While this initially seemed that it would make our lives ten times easier, it ended up proving even more difficult. We walked into the final and the teacher said to us, “Don’t freak out, but you don’t know anything on this test.” She expected us to use everything we had studied, and to apply it to whatever new concept she was hurling at us in this final exam. Extremely frightening and frustrating, yes. But at the same time, successfully pooling together all of our previous material to analyze unfamiliar concepts really proved how effective the teaching style at Sciences Po is.

And although I only have one more very relaxed semester left at Northeastern, I know these skills I have picked up at Sciences Po will be very helpful in the near future. I was recently accepted into a Masters program at Trinity College Dublin— a similarly renowned and rigorous institute that utilizes strict structures of teaching and testing. But if this semester has shown me anything, it’s that I can adapt to most any situations or environments I put myself into. If I can survive Paris on the limited French I know, returning to a city as welcoming and fun as Dublin will be a breeze. Next stop, sunny and warm Boston!

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