CIEE Summer Language and Culture in Toulouse (2015)

CIEE approached my high school to begin doing study abroad trips during my junior year; it was the first year that my high school got this sort of opportunity. I had been planning on majoring in French in college, so I was interested in the program. Through my high school's connections, I applied to the program and was accepted. It was going to be my first time outside of the United States and going on a trip by myself of that magnitude. For me, a big reason why my parents were so okay with this prospect was how involved the program was with the school; they held presentations, gave out information, and were readily available for questions. They laid out the whole program, something that my parents appreciated. They also liked how there were mechanisms in place to give us the flexibility of being more independent or being with a group, such as with traveling there. CIEE was parent-friendly and it was easy to work with them and learn more about the program, which made it easier on me and my parents when preparing for this experience.

I really enjoyed the program; I liked my host family and my house-mate. The group of students that I met were amazing and I'm definitely glad that I still talk to the friends I made while I was there. This experience definitely made me champion studying abroad; I've talked about it with friends and some of my friends went on different CIEE trips after I went. As a whole, the summer programs give a glimpse into what studying abroad for a full semester or a year could be like. There were times when the program felt a little too structured where there wasn't any flexibility, but it's also understandable as we are high school students in a foreign country.

As for after studying abroad, it only made me want to go again very soon. I still keep in touch with the friends that I made while I was on the program and we talk often enough to know what's going on in each other's lives. The program also helped steer me into knowing what I wanted to do later on in college both as a French major and a Political Science major. It wasn't more than a meeting, but we had the opportunity to meet with the US ambassador to France, which to a then-potential Political Science student was really exciting. I loved the immersion experience and the opportunity to do this, especially in high school. Some people don't get the chance to study abroad until college, so being able to do it when I did was an amazing opportunity that impacted me academically and helped shape what I wanted to do then after.