"It was everything I had imagined as a child, yet somehow infinitely more alive."
Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve been obsessed with the Pixar animated film Ratatouille. I watched Remy race across the rooftops so many times that, in my mind, Paris always smelled like fresh bread and sounded like laughter drifting through narrow streets. I imagined flaky croissants pulled from tiny bakeries, flower-lined balconies overlooking winding boulevards, and strangers lingering over long conversations as if no one was in a hurry to be anywhere else. For years, that version of Paris lived only on my television screen.
So when I boarded my flight to France, there was only one movie I wanted to watch: Ratatouille. As it played somewhere over the Atlantic, I smiled knowing that, in just a few hours, the city I had imagined for so many years would no longer be animated. It would be real. Then, one June morning, I stepped out of my dorm and caught the unmistakable scent of warm butter drifting from the boulangerie down the street while bicycles rattled over cobblestones and snippets of French floated through the air as commuters disappeared into the Metro. It was everything I had imagined as a child, yet somehow infinitely more alive.
As a varsity student-athlete at Columbia, studying abroad during the summer was the perfect opportunity to experience another country without stepping away from my athletic commitments. Thanks to the Global Learning Scholarship, that opportunity became possible. The scholarship allowed me to fully immerse myself in five unforgettable weeks in Paris.
It didn’t take long for Paris to feel less like a foreign city and more like a community. The faculty and staff at Reid Hall welcomed us with genuine warmth from the very first day, and the friendships I formed throughout the program quickly made each day feel a little more like home. Whether we were wandering through neighborhoods after class, stopping at Stohrer (the oldest pastry shop in Paris) to try a Saint-Honoré, encouraging one another to try escargot for the first time, or simply talking during Metro rides home, some of my favorite memories came from the people I shared the experience with. Those ordinary moments gradually transformed the city into a place filled with memories of my own.
Academically, studying abroad allowed me to experience my coursework in ways that would have been impossible back in New York. In my Music Humanities course, we spent weeks studying the musical elements necessary to fully appreciate Verdi’s La Traviata before attending a live performance. Watching the performance unfold on stage gave me an entirely new appreciation for the artistry behind a work I had previously only encountered through readings and recordings. It reminded me that some subjects are best understood not just through textbooks, but by experiencing them firsthand.
My Endangered Languages course had a similar impact. One of our class excursions took us to the Musée national de l’Histoire de l’Immigration, where we explored the stories of people who brought their languages, cultures, and identities with them to France. Walking through the exhibits gave new meaning to the conversations we had been having throughout the semester about language and migration. Living in Paris while studying these topics made every lecture feel connected to the world around me.
Looking back, I realize the Paris I found was even better than the one I imagined while watching Ratatouille as a child. It wasn’t just the architecture, the pastries, or the famous landmarks that made the experience unforgettable. It was the people I met, the classes that came to life beyond the classroom, and the confidence I gained from immersing myself in a new culture. I returned back home with a deeper appreciation for global learning, lifelong friendships, and memories I’ll carry with me long after this summer. I am incredibly grateful to the Global Learning Scholarship for making this experience possible and for turning a childhood dream into one of the most meaningful chapters of my college experience
