{"id":22297,"date":"2026-06-11T13:19:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T18:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/?p=22297"},"modified":"2026-06-11T13:19:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T18:19:14","slug":"what-i-learned-studying-abroad-in-paris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/2026\/06\/11\/what-i-learned-studying-abroad-in-paris\/","title":{"rendered":"What I learned studying abroad in Paris"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I had never left the country. I didn\u2019t 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 \u201cexcuse me\u201d in French.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our program was built around the history of Paris, which meant our \u201cclassroom\u201d 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 \u00cele de la Cit\u00e9, 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\u2019s 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\u2019s boulevards make it almost impossible to imagine what medieval Paris looked like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"A5F7D697_833C_4565_B417_CBE36DC4A50A\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
My study abroad class viewing a statue of Louis XIV by Antoine Coysevox near the entrance of the Carnavalet Museum.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019re 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"97178747_4A87_46D9_9573_7C8AC2624678\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
The breathtaking Grand Foyer of the Palais Garnier, the historic 19th century opera house.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I think studying abroad isn\u2019t 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\u2019s new album, I wanted to edit it into a short film that captured what it felt like to be a first\u2011time traveler inside a city with 2,000 years of history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"P1060517\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
The tomb of Joseph Bonaparte, the older brother of Napoleon. It was located inside the D\u00f4me des Invalides.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

More broadly, it expanded my sense of what\u2019s possible. Getting myself from Columbia, Missouri, to a day that required logistics, problem-solving and a level of self-trust I hadn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s willing to step into it may not be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Learn more about this blogger\u2019s study abroad program: Ancient Paris: Monuments, Museums, Magnificence<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had never left the country. I didn\u2019t 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 \u201cexcuse me\u201d in French. Our program […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[205],"class_list":["post-22297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-france"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22297"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22297\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22301,"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22297\/revisions\/22301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}