I’m studying at Sciences Po University in Reims, France for the fall semester, which is wild because I’ve wanted to live in France ever since I was a little girl. I’ve always been whimsical, and France– with its sweet language, its chocolate and cheese, its charming villages soaked in history and elaborate architecture, its chic cities and amazing art– has always drawn me. I want to speak fluent French; it is a beautiful and melodic language that I love. It is a challenging love that takes patience and dedication, but that makes it all the more rewarding when I can understand an entire chapter of Le Petit Prince.

It’s the eve of my flight to Europe, and I’m fending off a mild panic attack. All week I’ve alternated between excitement, sadness, and nerves, and tonight all my feelings are mixing together apprehensively in my chest. I mean, I have to be crazy, right? I’m leaving my home, my loved ones, a university I adore, and living in a place for 4 months where I don’t know anyone. Right now the thought of navigating all my train connections in France with my suitcase and backpack is nerve-wracking, and I’m sentimental because all I’m thinking about is “this is the last time I’ll see my friends, my family, and my dog for a while, and I’ll really miss them.” But amid all my worries, I just have to remember that I’m crazy lucky to have this opportunity! This will be such an adventure, and I’m going to grow so much and experience amazing things and master l’art de vivre.

Applying for this study abroad program was pretty momentous for me– I mean, I had a “Paris Jar” in high school that I stashed money in (dramatic, I know). I’m probably romanticizing the whole thing but I have this feeling in my chest like I’m meant to go to France. Even though I’ve never been there I love it. I can’t wait to see the rolling hills of Champagne and the craggy cliffs of Normandy; the sea-spray-coated medieval towns of Brittany and the lavender fields of Provence; the sun kissed Cote d’Azur and snowy Alps. I can’t wait to make Reims and the people I meet there home.

Earlier this week I joined a group chat with my fellow exchange students for the semester, and it made the whole study abroad program less surreal and a little less scary. Because even though I’m stoked to go to France I’m also scared because my French is intermediate at best and I’ll have a whole new school to learn and I’ll be all alone in a foreign country and the whole process of getting there so far has been a slight nightmare what with getting my student visa and going through all the bureaucratic merde of renting my apartment. But the group chat has been nice, and it makes me realize how truly international this program is: students from South Africa, Australia, India, Poland, Czech Republic, the Netherlands. And we’re all in the same boat: fresh off the boat. I can’t wait to meet them in a pub before orientation starts, drinking my first legal drink in a country I’ve always dreamed of going to, in a city that will be my home for four months.