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I’m from Strasbourg but haven’t lived there for almost half
my life. For many years, my family has followed my father’s
career around. Most recently we’ve lived in Malmö, Sweden
(for two years) and San Francisco, CA (for six).
Having gone through Middle School in the US, I had an
extremely hard time dealing with high school when I returned
to France. Those were rough years, when I lost all interest
in academia and lost all of my intellectual curiosity. It
took me three years to recover. After high school, I failed
after two years in a French university, having no idea what
on earth I was doing there. After that second year, I
decided to break all ties with education, and started
looking for a full-time job, which I held for a year. I
learned more about myself and life in general in that year
than in the previous six years in the French educational
system. Regaining interest for studies, I started to look at
different opportunities, knowing that I would not enjoy
returning to French university. Given my past, the American
system was the logical place to look, although at the time I
did not feel comfortable with putting an ocean between me
and my family.
When I heard about The American University of Paris, it
was almost too good to be true. I made a decision
immediately, and to this day I consider that decision to be
the best I have ever taken for myself. AUP has lived up to
all of its promises. I have not only found the ideal
environment for intellectual stimulation, but have also
found the right kind of people to study and enjoy life with.
Oh, and I love Paris.
The AUP classroom experience? Small groups, yet diverse,
offering a unique environment for sharing ideas and learning
together. Professors are clearly concerned for each and
every one of us, and the faculty is close and attentive to
the student body… something which is missing from the French
system. I’m intending to major in Entrepreneurship and in
Economics, and hope to fit a minor in International Law
somewhere in there!
At AUP, I’m part of the volleyball team, and am currently
setting up a swimming club too. Sports have always been a
major part of my life, and I couldn’t live without them. I
served as a student advisor during Orientation, a mentor for
the Peer Mentoring program, and am a teaching assistant,
tutoring in ARC twice a week. I’m also a member of the
Entrepreneurs’ Club, in line with my major.
I like the feeling of community at AUP, which is strong
even though we are in the middle of a big city such as
Paris. The campus feels like home, and adventure is just
outside our doorstep! My favorite place on campus is
probably the Amex, where I try to stop in every day to catch
up with friends.
AUP’s best feature in my opinion is its unique “condensed
diversity,” and the fact that for its small size, it has
huge ambitions, and relies on us, the students, to make
things happen. All of the different perspectives that we are
exposed to daily as students give us unique insight into the
values we treasure most, and teach us about flexibility,
open-mindedness, and having respect for the viewpoints of
others.
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