A junior from Farmingville, NY, Dana always felt pulled to study abroad in Paris. Before she knew it, she was on a plane to Paris and selected as the CEA MOJO (mobile journalist) for the Fall semester. In just a few short weeks, her apprehension about moving to France as a French language beginner dissipated, and she began to make Paris her home.
Dana lives in a student residence hall on the Left Bank of the city and shares a room with another CEA student. "Go to the kitchen," she says, when asked for her best advice to students thinking about res hall living. "The kitchen is where you meet everyone!" A residence hall may not have the creature comforts of an apartment, "but that's not why I'm here."
Most mornings, Dana takes the metro to the CEA Study Center, but some days she goes to the Paris-Diderot campus for her Communication and Global Competence course. CEA and local French students hold debates on topics such as "Veganism" or "The Right to Privacy", which gives Dana another window into the cultural fabric of France and some new French friends to hang out with after class!
"I feel a lot more secure in who I am. I can navigate a city where I didn't even know the language. I made it work!"
Now, the biggest challenge Dana faces is balancing her school work with travel and Paris explorations. That said, when your Mass Media and Fashion course assignment involves a fashion photo shoot, there is a lot of room for crossover! "We're trying to recreate la parisienne and high fashion...at the Arts & Metiers subway station."
Dana Fazziola is a Cinema Production major at Ithaca College.