The Months where I found pieces of myself in Places that are not my own July 14, 2025

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Academic: the program has an academic structure where professors are solicited from different universities across the the country and come to the students to teach classes. This means that as part of the FMS program you are not going to be enrolling in a university in each country but rather APA will have professors come teach your cohort at their office space. The great plus of this structure is that the cohorts are not big so you will have the opportunity to get to know your professors who are often renowned for their work in the country. Another benefit of this structure is it facilitates participation, as you are not intimidated by local students but are learning with your friends in the program. In addition to classes, APA offer language support twice a week. once a week students will have individual tutoring in french, then once a week students will have collective french class.

On-site administration of your program

APA: when I approached planing to study abroad my focus was on the country(ies) that I wanted to live and study in, I did not realize how much the program I selected would influence my experience. I was lucky to be recommended APA by a friend, but I think it should be public knowledge how much of a gem APA's structure is for anyone looking to study in a francophone country. The program's mission is immersion, so there is a great emphasis and effort put towards ensuring that students experience the country as a local would. This means the team of the program is greatly involved in helping the students navigate and integrate into local life. for example, I remember the program arranged for all students to arrive at the same time so that the director of the program could pick us up and welcome us to France. Another example of how APA go about immersion is excursions. I Remember how the founder of the program would sometimes join the cohort to attend concerts, we had mental-health workshops, and students were invited to have coffee chats with the founded of the program. As someone who had to get multiple visas, the program provided me with all required documents, I remember members of the team accompagning me to appointments in senegal and morocco to extend my visas. The program provided students a booklet of advice in terms of what to pack, medication to bring in, how to approach integrating with host families. when we arrived on the ground we were introduced with the entire team, all who had a different role. one of the team members was the host home liaison, as we were staying in homestays they were our contact if we had any issues or request regarding our stay, we had a team member that was in charge of language support, we had a team member who was in charge of integration, meaning that team member took us to get sim cards, they establish our account for internet and deleted after we left, they provided us with public transportation passes and were in charge of adding more money, they took us around where we were staying, they help book any medical appointments, another team member was in charge of any questions regarding credit transfer and classes, and schedules.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

as part of the APA:FMS program sutdents are required to stay with host families to better integrate and it was a great experience as student fill out form prior to arrival to describe their preference and accommodations needed. For example, as a devout Christian and someone who loves children, I was matched with a big family whom I went to church every Sunday. while my friend who is a film major was matched with a host mom that is a film director who would take her to different restaurant on thursdays to brainstorm project idea.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

The program's mission is immersion, so there is a great emphasis and effort put towards ensuring that students experience the country as a local would. This means the team of the program is greatly involved in helping the students navigate and integrate into local life. for example, I remember the program arranged for all students to arrive at the same time so that the director of the program could pick us up and welcome us to France. Another example of how APA go about immersion is excursions. APA value academic exposure as much as cultural exposure. Meaning, while in another program I would have to plan weekend-trip, and research on my own activities to do, APA already arranged. At the beginning of the program students receive both an academic and excursion calendar. Meaning Upon arrival I had a calendar packed with plays, concerts, wine tasting, cheese tasting. museums visit, and weekend getaway to different parts of the countries already planned and organized for me to attend.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

the program recommended travel insurance ahead of the program. as someone who suffered multiple health problems while abroad, the administration team helped me navigate everything. They helped book doctors appointment, and accompanied me to doctor's appointment. The team even addressed mental health needs as they provided mindfulness workshop and a group therapy session during the program.

when I approached planing to study abroad my focus was on the country(ies) that I wanted to live and study in, I did not realize how much the program I selected would influence my experience. I was lucky to be recommended APA by a friend, but I think it should be public knowledge how much of a gem APA's structure is for anyone looking to study in a francophone country. The program's mission is immersion, so there is a great emphasis and effort put towards ensuring that students experience the country as a local would. This means the team of the program is greatly involved in helping the students navigate and integrate into local life. additionally, they value immersion. Meaning, pon arrival they provide students with an excursion calendar that is as robust as their academic calendar. There are sold out plays and concerts that I would have never been able to see in Paris had the program not purchased them months in advance and add them to our activities calendar. There are places in France, Morocco, and Senegal that I would have never thought to book a trip to had the program not planned weekend trips for us.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

The program requires that students live with host families so they remain in a french speaking environment even outside of class. during excursions we were prompted to only speak in french. Outside of the language support that students receive twice a week from a french professor, students are matched with a Tandem a local student meant to practice french with us.

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• Host Family

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• Host Family

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• International Students

• all of the activities and excursion
• the adminsitrative team(they were so helpful it felt like family)
• my host families in each country

• professors being more accessible after class

The Academic or Linguist