As I write this final blog entry from Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport, I cannot believe it is already the end of my study abroad experience. I mean, where do I begin? These past eight weeks have been some of the most fun, yet challenging, weeks of my life. I feel like every single day was an adventure, and I never knew what to expect.
Starting with my internship, I am extremely appreciative of the people at EUSA and Pitt who made this experience possible for me. Over two months, I learned intangible international marketing knowledge that will thoroughly help me in my future career. I got to work in another language, within the marketing and communications department of a B2B nutricosmetics company, handling dozens of projects each week. Whether it was content creation, translations, research, benchmarking, or simply attending meetings, I feel like my internship showed me what it’s really like to work for an international beauty company, and everything that goes into B2B marketing in France. My manager was the highlight of my internship experience. She was extremely welcoming, gave me plenty of opportunities to grow, and even let me take the reins towards the end of my time here to work on projects I usually wouldn’t do. She was truly the perfect manager, and I am thankful to have made a strong professional connection during my time in Paris.
When I wasn’t at my internship during the day, I was making sure to maximize my time in the city. I knew I only had 8 weeks to do everything humanly possible in Paris (and in other countries, too), and I feel like I succeeded in experiencing this city and everything it has to offer. I went to the Opera, Versailles, all of the museums you can think of, two river boats, and probably every park in the city. I will never forget my walks along the Seine, either admiring the view or talking to my mom on the phone, recapping my day. The amount of pastries I consumed was probably unhealthy for the average person, but hey, when in Paris! And of course, I can’t forget my friends, who made this experience worthwhile for me. Whether it was getting dinner at 9 pm, getting panini’s in the Latin Quarter (Panini Man I will never forget you), going salsa dancing, swimming in Sicily, or eating waffles in Belgium, I will forever be grateful for them and the comfort they managed to bring me being so far away from home. One of these days, I will make my way to UVA… you can’t get rid of me that easily!
I also want to quickly write about my host mom. Though we only had eight weeks together, and very different schedules, I cannot be grateful enough for the kindness she showed me this summer. Before coming to Paris, I was most nervous about my living situation. I’m a homebody, and sometimes I have a hard time staying in places I’m not completely familiar with, but Tania took away all my worries and made me feel right at home. I’ll never forget my first day, completely sleep-deprived and jet-lagged, meeting her for the first time and being shown around the apartment. It was the cutest little place, with her paintings and books everywhere, and though I couldn’t understand everything, she was saying (I’ve improved, I swear), she insisted on telling me how happy she is that I’m here and that if I needed anything, to just let her know. Throughout the weeks, we got to know each other better, and I can confidently say that I will be visiting her the next time I find myself in Paris. Yet another lifelong connection I’ve made during my summer here!
My time in Paris has been one long, exciting, yet challenging learning experience. I have grown in ways that I didn’t think were possible for me. I stepped out of my comfort zone to try new things: meet people, eat new foods, go places alone, and travel to new countries. Even thinking back to the simple things, like getting groceries or ordering at cafés in another language… all taught me new things about the culture in France and also how difficult yet rewarding it was to adapt to a new culture. I made mistakes every single day, but no matter what, I knew I had to take the small embarrassments as a learning opportunity. By the end of the summer, I could confidently order at restaurants and cafés in French, direct people to metros, get my way around the city confidently, and above all, comfortably talk to my host mom and coworkers in French.
No matter what, I will be carrying my summer in Paris with me forever. In future career opportunities, I will use the marketing and communications skills I learned at my internship, either in interviews or in an actual position at a marketing agency. I will be able to communicate more easily with French-speaking people, either at my job or in daily life. Not to mention the soft skills I’ve developed throughout the summer, such as time management, leadership, adaptability, and creativity. I got to express myself at work through my content creation, adapt to a new work and life culture, and prioritize different tasks while making time for social life and commuting. I have obtained so many new skills that will carry over into my daily life, and I truly feel like anything I do from this point on will feel so much easier than this experience. I threw myself into an entirely new life: new apartment, new friends, new job, new city… If I can adapt to this, I can adapt to anything!
As I approach my last semester at Pitt (and I truly cannot believe that’s a real sentence), I am going to reflect on my time in Paris with everything I do. In my classes, I will be able to manage my time between homework and exams more efficiently. While interviewing for spring and summer internships, I will use all of my experience from studying abroad to show employers that, though it was the most challenging thing I’ve ever done, I have grown significantly within eight weeks, and the skills that I learned will translate into my work at their company. I am beyond excited to jump back into life at Pitt this fall, knowing everything that I’ve accomplished this summer, and how it’s going to propel me ahead in my future opportunities.
Well, I guess this is it! I want to give a shout-out to my dedicated readers out there; Mom, Aunt Becky, Mima & Pap, thank you for tuning in every week and experiencing my adventures with me! Paris wouldn’t have been the same without you and your constant support. Thank you to my scholarship donor and my parents, who made this summer possible for me, I truly cannot express how thankful I am for this experience. This summer has had a lot of ups and downs, but as I’m sitting down and reflecting on my time, all I can really think about is the good. Who knows, maybe I’ll be back next summer (if my finances allow)!
My warmest regards to all those reading,
Au Revoir!
Hailey Krawczyk