“You’re where?”
This was the response from the majority of my friends upon hearing that I was in Paris studying abroad, four weeks into the summer. And they are not inattentive, nor am I coy to talk about myself (refer to my other blogs for evidence). Honestly, their response was valid, given how quickly it seems that I was whisked away to France.
The energy I was serving:
My going to Paris happened to be so spur-of-the-moment, because studying abroad at Yale can be extremely straightforward. This is thanks to YSS, or Yale Summer Session, and the ISA, or International Study Award. After a few application questions, I was accepted to a language-learning program in France faster than I could even say “Oui.”
Now, I can’t provide you with as much information about Yale study abroad programs as their official website can (Google “Yale Study Abroad” and something interesting ought to pop up), but I can share a few tidbits concerning the topic.
First, study abroad culture is a little peculiar at Yale. Like many other colleges, there is an office dedicated towards helping students study abroad during their time at Yale. However, many Yale students don’t study abroad during the normal school-year (during the fall or spring semester). Au contraire, the majority of Yale students study abroad over the summer. The reason for this I didn’t believe until I was a junior at Yale — but it’s because most students do not want to miss out on any of the fun on campus. With only 8 semesters, nobody wants to spend time away from life in New Haven.
Secondly, Yale’s study abroad program offers locations alllll over the world. From India to Italy, Indonesia to Ireland – those are just the locations that start with the letter “i”! Some of the favorite locations of my friends who studied abroad in the past year are Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, and Barcelona. For me, Paris was a no-brainer, as I have studied French since high school and never had the opportunity to put my French to the real test (let’s just say, my French is a lot better in America than in France).
For my specific program, there were components that are not the same across all of Yale’s study abroad offerings. For one, I was in a class with other Yale students, which can be a positive or a negative depending on what sort of experience you seek. We lived with host families across the city of Paris, and then would meet in a classroom altogether three days of the week with a professor from Yale. We would also go on excursions as a class, and although sometimes I was not a fan of how regimented the program was (haha funny (not funny)), it forced me to see and learn a lot more than I would’ve without it, which I’m ultimately grateful for. Further, my program was only five weeks, which was relatively quick for an immersive experience. In the end, I received 2 Yale credits that could easily be added towards my 36-credit requirement to graduate.
Moi et deux amies at an art gallery!
Before wrapping up, it’s also worth noting the privilege that comes with studying abroad. I won’t get into travel politics here (you’ll have to find me on campus to talk about that), but something I appreciate about Yale is its effort to make studying abroad as accessible as possible, so at least one has the choice to study abroad or not. Earlier I mentioned the ISA, or the International Study Award. The ISA is a Yale scholarship that provides funding for students receiving financial aid to study abroad during one of their summers at Yale. As far as I know, the ISA gives away much more funding than the average institution, and because it is a need-based scholarship offered by Yale, there is no competitive component in receiving funds. Of course, I must acknowledge that every program is different, and that studying abroad can be expensive regardless of ISA funding. Additionally, receiving fellowships and grants to supplement your academic travel pursuits is no easy task. However, Yale I think does an above-average job at trying to get as many students as possible to experience learning and living abroad.
Merci and au revoir!