With only 2 days left here in France, I have mixed feelings about leavi
ng. I won't try to lie, I miss my family so much, but just the thought of having to leave France, Pontlevoy, and especially The Abbey makes me want to stay here forever. When I first decided to come to The Abbey I just knew that once I got here I would never want to leave. I love to travel and being in a place where you can easily travel to multiple countries over the period of days is so exciting to me. I couldn't even imagine at the time that I would ever miss America much less Mississippi. I had this amazing opportunity to make Pontlevoy, France my permanent residence for 3 months. I don't know many other people, with the exception of past students of The Abbey, who can say they have or will every have that opportunity. I have grown so much as a person through out these 3 months. I look back at pictures from the first week we were here and I hardly recognize the person I see. I have become so much more confident with myself and have learned that there will always be people who have negative things to say about you. The key to get through this is learn to only listen to the people that matter in your life because if they matter they will not be saying anything negative about or to you. As everyone starts to pack and clean their rooms I realize how big of an impact so many of these people have had on me. People who were there during the disastrous but mostly amazing travel breaks, those that partied hard with me at Le Commerce during Tuesday night parties, and t
hose that were always there to listen when I was having a bad day. The true test, for me, will be after I return home to see if I can keep the same mentality my friends here have taught me it's ok to have. The mentality that you don't have to sacrifice who you are as a person just to make others happy, because as long as you are doing that you will never learn to appreciate yourself for all of the great qualities you possess. I am going to miss going going to class every morning and seeing the village of Pontlevoy and the endless fields out of the window, I am going to miss seeing a friendly fac
e every time I turn a corner, and I am going to miss The Abbey! It's hard for me to describe how connected you become with this place over the course of 3 months. Don't get me wrong, The Abbey has its fair share of problems but I look at that as all part of the experience. Living, traveling, and hanging out with the same 41 people can test your nerves at time, but in the end you realize that whatever is bothering you can't be bad enough for
you to let it stand in the way of you having a great experience in France, Pontlevoy, and The Abbey. With only 2 nights left here we all know that we have to make the most of it. No matter how much you may dislike someone, no matter how tired you may be from finals week, and no matter how hungover you may be the next morning, these last 2 nights we will be making our final memories in France. I don't have any great advice on how to keep in touch with everyone or how to make it less sad to leave, but what I can tell you is that your times at The Abbey will be memories you will keep forever. Whether its Tori falling twice the first day we were here, Jay having to have surgery on her finger the first week we were here, the hookups...ohhhh the hookups, the friendships that form and dissipate, the people you become closes too, the people who were their when you had your freak out American tourist moment (who we
re probably doing the same thing), the endless shushes we got from Gabe every night, those looks from Jessica where you know your either in trouble or she just doesn't know what to say all she can do is look because you have put her in a state of shock by saying or doing something, those inspiring speeches from Dr. Mac, the professors who over time become like family, and so many more. You may get to see the coliseum, the statue of David, the Eiffel Tower, and much more and although you will always know that you saw these things the memories you will treasure most are some of the ones I have listed above. Know that when you make the decision to come to The Abbey you make the decision to remember it and all that happened while you were there forever. This site shows the testimony of other students who have studied at The Abbey. (http://www.eurabbey.com/test.htm)
ng. I won't try to lie, I miss my family so much, but just the thought of having to leave France, Pontlevoy, and especially The Abbey makes me want to stay here forever. When I first decided to come to The Abbey I just knew that once I got here I would never want to leave. I love to travel and being in a place where you can easily travel to multiple countries over the period of days is so exciting to me. I couldn't even imagine at the time that I would ever miss America much less Mississippi. I had this amazing opportunity to make Pontlevoy, France my permanent residence for 3 months. I don't know many other people, with the exception of past students of The Abbey, who can say they have or will every have that opportunity. I have grown so much as a person through out these 3 months. I look back at pictures from the first week we were here and I hardly recognize the person I see. I have become so much more confident with myself and have learned that there will always be people who have negative things to say about you. The key to get through this is learn to only listen to the people that matter in your life because if they matter they will not be saying anything negative about or to you. As everyone starts to pack and clean their rooms I realize how big of an impact so many of these people have had on me. People who were there during the disastrous but mostly amazing travel breaks, those that partied hard with me at Le Commerce during Tuesday night parties, and t
hose that were always there to listen when I was having a bad day. The true test, for me, will be after I return home to see if I can keep the same mentality my friends here have taught me it's ok to have. The mentality that you don't have to sacrifice who you are as a person just to make others happy, because as long as you are doing that you will never learn to appreciate yourself for all of the great qualities you possess. I am going to miss going going to class every morning and seeing the village of Pontlevoy and the endless fields out of the window, I am going to miss seeing a friendly fac
e every time I turn a corner, and I am going to miss The Abbey! It's hard for me to describe how connected you become with this place over the course of 3 months. Don't get me wrong, The Abbey has its fair share of problems but I look at that as all part of the experience. Living, traveling, and hanging out with the same 41 people can test your nerves at time, but in the end you realize that whatever is bothering you can't be bad enough for
you to let it stand in the way of you having a great experience in France, Pontlevoy, and The Abbey. With only 2 nights left here we all know that we have to make the most of it. No matter how much you may dislike someone, no matter how tired you may be from finals week, and no matter how hungover you may be the next morning, these last 2 nights we will be making our final memories in France. I don't have any great advice on how to keep in touch with everyone or how to make it less sad to leave, but what I can tell you is that your times at The Abbey will be memories you will keep forever. Whether its Tori falling twice the first day we were here, Jay having to have surgery on her finger the first week we were here, the hookups...ohhhh the hookups, the friendships that form and dissipate, the people you become closes too, the people who were their when you had your freak out American tourist moment (who we
re probably doing the same thing), the endless shushes we got from Gabe every night, those looks from Jessica where you know your either in trouble or she just doesn't know what to say all she can do is look because you have put her in a state of shock by saying or doing something, those inspiring speeches from Dr. Mac, the professors who over time become like family, and so many more. You may get to see the coliseum, the statue of David, the Eiffel Tower, and much more and although you will always know that you saw these things the memories you will treasure most are some of the ones I have listed above. Know that when you make the decision to come to The Abbey you make the decision to remember it and all that happened while you were there forever. This site shows the testimony of other students who have studied at The Abbey. (http://www.eurabbey.com/test.htm)
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