I had never left the country. I didn’t own a passport. Paris existed for me through art, textbooks and movies. And then this spring, I found myself wheeling a suitcase through Charles de Gaulle Airport, jet-lagged, clutching a folder of printed itineraries and trying to remember how to say “excuse me” in French.

Our program was built around the history of Paris, which meant our “classroom” moved every day. One morning, we stood under the stained glass of Sainte-Chapelle, learning how medieval kings used themselves as propaganda. Another afternoon, we were in the Crypt of the Île de la Cité, literally under the street, tracing the outline of Roman Lutetia. What surprised me most was the speed at which the readings were brought to life. I had taken notes on the Parisii and Lutetia, on Cluny’s Roman baths and on Saint-Denis as a royal burial site. Seeing the actual stones and streets, I stopped memorizing dates and started noticing details: the way Gothic arches pull your eyes up, how Haussmann’s boulevards make it almost impossible to imagine what medieval Paris looked like.

If you scroll Instagram, Paris looks like a highlight reel of Eiffel Tower sunsets and Louvre selfies. Those things are real (I had to partake too), but they’re not the whole story. Some of my favorite memories were riding the Seine boat and watching elderly couples slow dance along the river, getting caught in a sudden wind approaching the louvre, riding the metro back to our residence at night, and seeing the city lights.

I think studying abroad isn’t just about passport stamps or proving you can survive on a different continent for a week. As someone interested in storytelling and visual culture, being in Paris was like the holy grail. I started filming and photographing everything, like metro stations, reflections in shop windows, and the people crossing. On the plane home, listening to Raye’s new album, I wanted to edit it into a short film that captured what it felt like to be a first‑time traveler inside a city with 2,000 years of history.

More broadly, it expanded my sense of what’s possible. Getting myself from Columbia, Missouri, to a day that required logistics, problem-solving and a level of self-trust I hadn’t fully tested before. Now, when I contemplate applying for internships out of state or future programs abroad, it feels less like a dream and more like an option I know how to pursue.

My advice is that you are ready. Even if you don’t think you are. Apply anyway. Ask the questions. Talk to financial aid about scholarships. Let your future self figure out how to pack. Paris will still be there, but the version of you who’s willing to step into it may not be.

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Learn more about this blogger’s study abroad program: Ancient Paris: Monuments, Museums, Magnificence