Audrey Telfer, Sciences Po Exchange, Fall 2014
On June 25, 2013, I returned from Paris to the United States. It had been over 10 months since I had been home, so I was feeling happy and excited about being home for a few days and I was looking forward to having a chance to catch up with my family and friends and tell everyone about my experience abroad.
But now, whenever someone asks me how my year in Paris was, the first thing that naturally comes out of my mouth is “It was great!! I loved it!!!!” And I hate it, because I know how vague and how “typical” this answer is.
But no matter how loud I yell it or how many times I repeat that I LOVED MY EXCHANGE YEAR IN PARIS. That I would do it over a thousand times if I could. That it was one of the greatest opportunities of my life and that I don’t regret a single thing about my experience. No matter in how many different shapes and forms I try to explain how splendid my experience was, it will be extremely difficult to communicate precisely why my experience had such a big impact on my life.
I have thousands of pictures on my computer from all the different places I visited this year. 
I visited over 11 different countries and 30 different cities. I have hundreds of stories to tell. But even if you look through every single picture on my computer, you will not meet the same people I met, take the classes I took, take the metro as many times or eat as many baguettes as I did this past year. The people I met this year, during my exchange at Sciences Po and traveling around Europe, have shaped my exchange year and have helped me grow. They have impacted my life and have shaped my way of thinking, helping me become a more open person and view the world differently.
Even if I tell you every story and show you every picture from my year abroad, it will be impossible to capture, in full, the essence of my experience, and to live and to grow the way I did— which is precisely what made my experience so spectacular!