The last acceptance letter I received during my senior year of high school was from George Washington University and I learned I was invited to join the Paris Scholars Program, which would give me the unique opportunity to spend my freshman year of university living in Paris, France before transferring to GWU to complete university.

Without really understanding what I was doing I jumped on the opportunity and accepted and began to eagerly prepare for what I pictured would be the most amazing year.

Well, what turned into an amazing and enriching experience did not begin that way, but what I took away from my rather different beginning of college is indescribable and certainly not for everyone. At age 18, I moved to a foreign country alone, a country with a language I had never even began to study, and was expected to pay bills and be in complete control of my life – something I had never had to do before.

My university had no dining halls, no dorms, and no campus and was the pretty much opposite of the every normal college experience. But what I left Paris with last May is something that I could never have dreamed of having.

I left Paris with a better understanding of who I am, complete and utter independence, and the knowledge that I am capable of anything that I encounter. I left with five new French family members (and a cat), fourteen European cities under my belt, an expert understanding of the Parisian metro, and friends for a lifetime. Yes, I may have missed homecoming, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and a typical freshman experience, but what I took from my Parisian year is something that will stay with me forever.