Kennadi Jackson: IES Abroad in the South of France Summer 2022 When I first began learning French in middle school, I never would have imagined that I would have an opportunity to use my language skills in France. This past summer I studied abroad with a non-auburn program, IES Abroad, in the South of France….
What are the first things you think of when you hear the word London? What comes to your mind? Is it posh English men and women sipping on some Earl Grey while nibbling on a scone? Is it Queen Elizabeth walking her cute little corgis down the pavement (not sidewalk)? Or is it TV shows…
Everyone is spooked that something bad is going to happen if the thirteenth day of the month falls on a Friday. I am not one for superstition, but November 13th, 2015 was a night filled with horror. The week leading up to that night, I had taken my parents on a short tour through France…
Over the intercom, the train conductor announced that we would soon be arriving in Grenoble, France. It was the middle of June and through the windows of the compartment, I could see snow-capped mountains peering through thin clouds. My heart quickened and I suddenly became extremely anxious. What if my host family didn’t like me?…
For nearly my entire life, the known universe to me consisted of two small towns in Alabama and some stops along the road around them. Growing up in Fairhope, AL, my family never cared much for travel. We made the occasional journey to Orlando and even went on a cruise once, but no one in…
Having spent my entire life in small-town Alabama, I had plenty of exposure to the sort of things that people typically associate with southern culture. I grew up hunting, fishing, eating fried okra and grits—you name it. The cousins and family I knew all spoke with Southern accents, and embraced the slower laid-back pace…
During my four years at Auburn, I have had several opportunities to gain international experience by studying and volunteering abroad. I studied abroad in what I think are two pivotal moments of my college career: once during the summer after my freshman year and once during the first semester of my senior year. I also…
As a sophomore in high school, I knew that I wanted to become fluent in Spanish and to study abroad during my undergraduate career. Auburn provided me with both of these opportunities, and I chose to spend the Spring semester of my Junior year in Alcalá de Henares, Spain. I lived with a host family that could…
“It only ends once. Anything before that is just progress” It was not until the fifth day that I woke in my flat and I truly understood what I had gotten myself into. During the spring semester of 2013 I had the opportunity to study and intern abroad in London, England. During the entire pre-departure…
As a child, I lived in Bristol, England for two years. These foggy memories of my childhood’s past were the only glimpses of a life outside of the one that I knew within the United States. As I arrived at Auburn University, everything seemed all too familiar. My entire family had attended the university, which…