Nearly 6 weeks into my life in France and 4 weeks into classes at NEOMA Business School, I’ve certainly started to become accustomed to the French way of life and my new routine. While Reims may not be the city everyone thinks of when they think of France, this city has so much to offer its large student population. It’s an incredibly navigable city, with many of the student residences within 10 minutes of each other, and features a comprehensive public transit network and pedestrian friendly roads. With boulangeries and brasseries lining every major road, there is no shortage of places to go with friends after class to grab a drink and a bite to eat. In fact, my favorite part of my new weekly routine involves trying a new bakery after class on Wednesdays with a group of Spanish and Italian friends I have class with.
As a school, NEOMA itself has some differences when compared to Pitt. Classes tend to be smaller, usually in 20-30 range, and I have yet to see any 150+ person lectures here as is common in gen ed requirements at Pitt. Courses rely much more heavily on group work and the final exam, with the final grade usually consisting only of those two categories (and the final exam often making up over half of the final grade). In addition, there is a major dividing line between campus life and social life among the students here. Most students live away from campus, often 10-20 mins by bus/tram, and social events revolve around city center rather than on campus. Not everything is foreign, however. Just like Pitt, NEOMA offers a plethora of student clubs (they call them associations) and features dozens of intramural/club sports to choose from.
Being a business school, many of the classes I’m taking at NEOMA are business courses, similar to what I would be taking at Pitt. NEOMA also offers international students access to French language and culture courses, of which I am taking a culture course taught entirely in French. Despite being fluent in French I have never taken a French course at Pitt, so this has been a new experience for me and I’m looking forward to learning more about the French way of life. I also consider myself lucky that my managerial accounting course is a mix of French and international students, unlike my other courses, which has given me the opportunity to start meeting local French students. I’ve learned however that you have to be rather extraverted to meet the local students. French students are often unlikely to make the effort to meet the internationals themselves and will only open up to you after you have broken the ice. I would also say that collaboration and communication are very important skills to learn here due to the reliance on group work, in addition to presentation skills as many professors require groups to present their projects. All of these are skills that I would like to build on and strengthen while I have such a great opportunity to do so. Despite the differences, I have been enjoying getting to know my new university and build a new routine, and I’m looking forward to continuing to dive into student life in France!
