PATRICK: GOAL SETTING & MAXIMIZING MY EXPERIENCE IN FRANCE

by Patrick Nkurunziza

I can’t believe it is getting closer. I am about 5 months away from going to study abroad. There is too much emotions going on inside me, but overall I am excited. I have always wanted to go to France, and I am so happy that my dream is about to come true. I am excited to get to meet the people, to experience the culture, to go site-seeing, to make new friends and visit my friends who live in France, and most importantly I am excited to gain knowledge. I have missed the French learning system and just having conversations with people in French. I am excited that soon I will get to re-live that feeling. Once I am in France, I hope to go visit some old friends that I haven’t seen in a while. I have always heard that France is a beautiful country, and I am so ready to just get to see what I have been hearing from many people. I am excited to take classes in French too.

I know that I am excited, but I am also nervous. I am kind of nervous because I am going to a new country that I have never been to, and I will not have my family. I am trying not to set in my mind any expectations because I don’t want to be disappointed. Although I am a little nervous, I know everything will be alright. I know that that is where I want to go, and I am trying to have an open mind and heart for anything that will come my way. I wouldn’t say that I am afraid of anything; it is just that I am anxious and nervous. Although I feel this way, I know that this is all part of traveling to a new place. All these emotions end up going away.

While I am in France, I want to keep taking serious my academics as I do here, and I never want to miss any class. I want to have good relationships with my professors. I want to be successful in my classes and always do my best. Besides academics, I want to travel around France and all around Europe. I want to visit as many places as I can, and I just want to enjoy the culture. I hope to make good French friends that will show me around and show me opportunities to be a part and experience the French culture.