La Sorbonne

Since I haven't started working yet, I've given myself the daily task of leaving the house at some point during the day beyond the laundry, the groceries or the laps around the track I jog at near our apartment. It only counts if I take the metro. Yesterday I remembered that I wanted to see La Sorbonne and so I announced to Sylvain that would be my destination for today. I almost studied abroad twice in Paris, once my third trimester at DePaul before transferring and Smith's Paris exchange program was at La Sorbonne. My French teacher at DePaul whose name I always almost remember but never do was formidable, I met my best friend Amanda, there in French class and together we participated in all the French activities the French department sponsored mainly because of Mme so and so, whose American husband was my philosophy professor. I loved French at DePaul almost as much as I lacked motivation for it at Smith. So when it came to studying abroad it was easier to pass by La Sorbonne and move on to Goldsmiths College in London. A decision I most certainly have no regrets about.

University is different here than it is in the states and it's not just because the buildings are imposing and seem imbued with intimidating minds and ideas. Student's don't board in dorms as they do in the states and their are no campus' just serious buildings with historical clout. I take issue with more or less most of the American University System and it's money making (as opposed to mind making) values, but I do think that along with teaching students how to develop original ideas and to think for themselves, college years ought to have some support for social growth as well. It's hard to wrap your head around 4 years of University living in the same room you grew up, having mom do your laundry and even if your parents disregard what time you come home with, or perhaps who you come home with- there is something creepy about both sides of that equation. University should be the first time you live on your own and I support freshman year dorm life.

Its equally hard to separate sports being a part of campus life. Although DePaul was a city campus and our basketball games and football games were held beyond the confines of our main campus, I visited our sports facilities a few times every week to swim. Even at Smith without a football team, I found myself either at the gym playing indoor soccer or watching friends compete against the seven sisters. I suppose it isn't a coincidence we're leading the medal count at the Olympics right now. Admittedly we're a little overzealous when it comes to these things, but 4 years at University ought to offer students a well-rounded experience which includes our lives outside of the classroom; bridging our high school lives at home with our parents to our independent lives as adults supported by dorm life which amounts to a lot of live in study buddies and some sports and social clubs.

La Sorbonne would have been amazing to experience, I imagined the classrooms with character and seriousness, similar to those at Smith where education felt important and meaningful. The neighborhood is chalk full of bookstores for the literary minded and just down the street is Ecole de Medicin.