Romain Sinclair, Sciences Po Exchange, Fall 2013
Hi all,
My name is Romain, and I will be going to France in the fall as part of an exchange program with Sciences Po in Paris. I hope to take advantage of the school’s reputation in the social sciences in order to better frame my political science studies at Northwestern. I think it will be very interesting to diversify my method of education. Doing so in a in a place with a profoundly different take on education and where the teaching is done in a different language, seems like just the opportunity to do so.
Yet, studying abroad is about much more than the formal education. Though going to one of best Universities in Europe is definitely a good incentive, there are other goals I’d like to pursue while abroad. For instance, I’d like to soak up the culture and immerse myself in the Parisian lifestyle- riding the metro system, eating at cafés, and waiting until 6: 30 to eat dinner. The experience will definitely be grounded by and focalized on my endeavors to write papers in French and increase my knowledge of the French political sphere.
Most importantly though, aside from schoolwork, I’d like to revive my French roots. Before coming to Northwestern and attending high school and middle school in New York, I spent most of my youth in France. It’s there that I learned how to ride a bike, how to read and write, and all the other elementary skills that are necessary in life. But beyond these clear, learnable elements that made up my childhood, there were many things, less distinct, that combined and worked together to make me French. I wasn’t only genetically French, but I also acted and behaved like a French boy. Now that I have lived in the U.S. for a while, this old part of me grows more distant and the memories associated with this childhood become more fleeting. I’d like to go to France to sow these two parts of my life back together. In going to Paris, it’s my hope that I can reconnect with my past.