Was I scared when I went to France? Well, I had traveled a lot. I had already been to France four times and gone to 27 different countries. So, was I scared to travel abroad? Nope, I wasn't. What I was most scared about was this was going to be an ordinary trip for me and I wouldn't have that life-changing experience everyone talks about when studying abroad. I couldn't write when I arrived on my nerves because my biggest fear was it would be to basic. I had already gone to France for the Euro X-Games, been on national television, among other adrenaline-pumping experiences, so what if this was going to be too basic for me?
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| sunset in Antibes |
Different, but a Life-Changing
My biggest fear was not having a life-changing experience. Man was I wrong. It was different than my other trips. I was experiencing what people from a different culture thought about me as Jamie, not Jamie Crane-Mauzy the professional skier. This has been the most relaxed and content four months I have ever had, or at least for a while.
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| Permanent Ferris wheel at the Nice Christmas market |
Self-reflection
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| Baking cookies with CEA friends |
I used this trip to learn about myself. I asked friends and family to analyze five of my strengths and five weaknesses. This was an assignment giving in management class and it fit right into my goal of learning about myself. Taking the International Business, Management Communication, and Intercultural Communication allowed me to learn I love intercultural communication. I have loved traveling for years, and now I know how I can combine that in a career. I have interviews already set up when I get back to the US with international communication consulting firms. I wouldn't have known what I wanted to do without this trip to learn about myself, and I those companies wouldn't be so interested in me without the tacit knowledge I acquired by studying abroad.
So many adventures
I had so many adventures, big ones, and small ones. I made great international friends, traveled around, went the Christmas markets, cooked with CEA friends, and found Jamie 2.0.
Was it a life-changing experience for me? YES.
Was it far from being a common, boring experience? YES
Would I recommend this experience? ABSOLUTELY
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| CEA at our goodbye Christmas party |
Jamie CM is the Fall 2017 MOJO Blogger in the France Riviera, France. She is currently a Junior studying Communications & Business at Westminster College.
