My study abroad experience has been nothing short of transformative. As a student who deals with anxiety, ADHD, and a complex chronic illness/dynamic disability, I wasn’t entirely sure I would be able to handle and navigate studying abroad. But I did! And it was an extraordinary experience.

I was nervous leading up to my program and upon arrival in France. It can be overwhelming to spend over twenty-four hours traveling across the world and being thrown into a foreign country and surrounded by a different language – no matter how prepared you are. When I first arrived, my brain was so exhausted from 30+ hours of traveling and being awake that I had a hard time understanding my host family and the French around me. I was so exhausted and overwhelmed that first night that I cried. But when I woke up the next morning, all of that exhaustion and overwhelm slowly faded away. Every day my language skills, confidence, and even sense of self improved. Successfully navigating a foreign country and the host language instilled a lot of confidence, faith, and resilience in me. Every moment of bravery I used to join in conversation with my host family, speak to waiters or cashiers or whoever I ran into in public, and participate in my French language classes in French not only helped me grow in my language skills, but in my own sense of self. Every small act of participation and practice helped quell my anxiety even more, and I was speaking and participating without any anxiety or nerves in a little over a week. As my language skills so did the rest of me. The experience really helped me blossom.

This opportunity was an incredible and unforgettable one. Every challenge, triumph, friendship, and unforgettable memory reshaped and rebuilt me in the most remarkable ways.

• Name: Elizabeth Sell
• Status: Junior
• Major: Interdisciplinary Humanities
• Hometown: Grand Ledge, Michigan
• Program: French Language, Literature, and Culture in Tours