By mcbitter
Does the life of a typical college student look the same in the United States and in France? Or does 3,828 miles create a world of difference?
During my two weeks in Paris, I've had a lot of opportunities to interact with French students and figure out the answer to this question. As you might guess, SciencesPo students are very similar to those at GW in some ways (the resemblance can be almost scary), but in other ways, we could be from different planets. Here are a few of my observations!
In general, many of the French students seem to be involved in the myriad of opportunities that SciencesPo offers - intramural sports, political groups, you name it, they have it. I've seen this firsthand through the five SciencesPo students in my program. I asked one of them what groups he was involved with, and I was still listening to his answer five minutes later (not really, but you get the point). In my experience, many GW students are the same way, getting involved with things like Greek life, student leadership roles, and academic organizations. In fact, one GW organization - the Student Association - has a French twin at SciencesPo! The BDE, or Bureau des Elèves, is their version of student council and seems to be one of the most well-received groups on campus. This past week, they hosted a party at the Moulin Rouge called the Soirée d'Intégration, a kind of beginning of the school year event.
One thing that is very different between the lives of American and French college students is campus jobs. At GW, I have had a position on campus each semester (shoutout to GW Jumpstart and the Center for Career Services!). At SciencesPo, having a campus job is far less common (and I'm not even positive if many are offered). Internships during the year don't seem to be very common among French students, either. One of the students in my program was telling me that he always tries to get an internship in December when they're on winter break. Overall, this concept was pretty foreign to me, especially coming from a place like Washington, DC, where student jobs and internships are in abundance.
Speaking of DC, you would think that SciencesPo and GW had a lot of shared elements due to the city environment, but that's not exactly the case. SciencesPo doesn't have dormitories, so students either live in apartments around the city or with their families. Everyone uses public transportation to get to school, and commuting can take over an hour every morning. (Mine is about 35 minutes.) It's not uncommon for students to live together, though, just as upperclassmen at GW frequently choose to do. Because there are no students living on campus, SciencesPo is pretty much closed on the weekends - aside from the library, which is open on Saturdays.
All of that said, if you sit in SciencesPo's garden around noon, the scene could very easily be one at an American university. The garden, or le jardin, is where many students congregate to de-stress from classes and schoolwork. I'm fond of grabbing lunch at the nearby campus food places (you can't beat a baguette du jambon et beurre that costs two euros!) and sitting down on benches or the grass with friends. Additionally, people are fond of grabbing an espresso together after class, and there's even a Starbucks nearby for us Americans who crave it!
Overall, learning about the similarities and differences between French and American students has been an interesting process. Adjusting to a new school kind of felt like being a freshman again, as it adds a whole new layer of things to learn, but it's not too difficult once you get the hang of it!