The True Memoirs of an International Union Student
Or TTMOAIUS for short. I’m still working on an appropriate title. My name is Alexander Nesmith and as my Clocktower involvement may imply, I am a student from Union College. However, this coming school year I will be registered as an international student studying abroad in France. The school I will be attending is a university known as Collonge-Sous-Saleve. This roughly translates to School On The Mountain. It is located on a mountain just outside the city of Geneva about five miles from the Swiss border.
Throughout the upcoming school year, I plan to share my adventures and misadventures while attending Adventist Colleges Abroad (ACA). I also hope to share advice and shortcuts on how to complete the ACA process efficiently and quickly, which will hopefully guide you around pitfalls that I had the misfortune of falling into. I will draw upon the knowledge I gain from my own experience, as well as two more Union students who I know will be going. Two of my sisters will join me on this adventure to another continent. They also may have stories to recount and advice to give.
I opted to go to France because, in a way, I already have a head start. My parents attempted to raise my siblings and me to be bilingual in both English and French. I cannot speak for my sisters, but for me, the process was a noble yet failing effort. This led to me having a basic understanding of the language interspersed with random bursts of fluency that quickly decayed into mournful confusion.
While I may have more fluency than someone who has never attempted to learn French, I am not content. I believe that if I were in an environment that focused specifically on learning the language, then it would be possible for me to become fluent. This is the reason I have chosen to go to France. I plan on becoming bilingual in French while creating a memorable experience. One which I plan on sharing with you.
Alex Nesmith is a sophmore studying communications.