This week felt like the first real week of my immersion in Paris. The first two weeks felt fresh and chaotic; with orientation and getting to know the people in my group, as well as jumping into a new job in a different language. By this week, I felt as though I finally found my footing in Paris.

For my internship, a lot of what I do is social media posts and brand marketing for the projects my company chooses to take on. Essentially, I am given criteria from the project manager and the format for what I am doing, and then free range on how to formulate the posts. Although it seems simple in theory, it is actually rather time consuming to plan every post, make two to three options per subject, edit them, get them approved, and potentially edit them again. At times it is tedious work, but overall, I highly enjoy this type of work. It allows me to use my French skills while also being independent and creative in the work I create. Because of this, I usually end up proud of what I have completed, in the sense that it will be used to help people build and market their services.

As previously mentioned, I am given a lot of leeway when it comes to my posts. However, one area I do experience uncertainty in is how much creative freedom I have. Most of my coworkers and managers are older, so they turn to me for advice on social media marketing and how it works. Yet, when I market my ideas that I feel will be beneficial for their social media pages, they tend to want to stay with what they already know. The line of having creative freedom and needing to follow a guideline is very unclear. In order to navigate this, I have learned to base my ideas on what they have previously done, then add elements known to boost engagement. For example, I have used previous posts as a blueprint, filled in the information for the new project, then added pictures, illustrations, or quotes that will boost the image of the posts. After doing this twice for my most recent projects, I have received favorable feedback and will likely continue with this in the future.

Socially, I have been spending a lot of time with the other people from my program. In Paris this summer, there is one other student from Pitt, three students from the University of Virginia, and one student from Wake Forest University. We all have similar goals for what we would like to experience by the end of this summer, and have come to know each other pretty well. This past weekend, we went to Nice in the south of France, a relatively well known town on the Mediterranean. Although it was fun to travel with my friends and experience new parts of the country, Nice itself was, in my opinion, rather underwhelming. What I perceived to be a cool town on the coast was actually substantially industrialized and a little chaotic in certain areas. The time I spent in the south of France when I was in high school imprinted the mental picture of old architecture and artistic landscapes, which does not encapsulate Nice. Nonetheless, I am glad that I got to make the journey with my friends, any trip is a trip worth taking.

For this next week, I hope to be given more writing opportunities in my internship. I really enjoy writing in general, and I feel writing in French would greatly help me progress with my language skills. We are also going to the south of France this weekend, to a smaller, older town called Aix en Provence. I hope this experience relates more to what I remember of the south of France and catalyzes my nostalgia.

À toute à l’heures!