Adjusting to a New Academic Life

I’ve officially completed one full week of classes here at Ecole de Management Strasbourg (EM Starsbourg) on the Student Exchange Program, and I can officially say my academic life here in France is extremely different than at Ohio State. However, I’m beginning to embrace the change and appreciate the small things in the European university system.

I’m currently taking six courses at EM Strasbourg. One large difference between Fisher and EM Strasbourg is the administrative processes. Due to the sheer size of Ohio State, our class registration process is done a whole semester early, and there is an extremely formalized process to add and drop classes. We’re well informed by our academic advisors as to what requirements need to be met, and we’re able to talk to both faculty and peers to make class decisions. At EM Strasbourg, a lot of my class registration process was done individually. I switched my class schedule more than four times purely because of last-minute class time changes, a discrepancy between the two systems we used to build our schedules, and transfer credit to Ohio State. One of my classes even ended up being canceled because of low registration. Of course, this was one of the courses I needed to count for a business core requirement. My final schedule was created three days prior to my first day of classes, something that would have completely thrown me off track at Ohio State. However, I learned how to be flexible from this system and problem solve in a short amount of time.

At EM Strasbourg, my classes last about 3-4 hours once a week. I have 1-2 classes and typically start my mornings around 9 am and end my day around 6 pm. This is a huge change from Fisher. I’m used to watching lecture videos online at my own pace or attending in-person lectures that last a maximum of 1 hour 45 minutes. I loved this independence I had and lived by my study schedule.

The duration of my classes and dependency of in-person attendance is what scared me the most prior to my first week of classes. I was extremely unsure of how I could pay attention in class for this long and felt I would tire out and become distracted easily. On my first day of classes, I had a very hard time adjusting. I was constantly watching the clock and daydreamed about the days where I would watch my marketing lectures at the Starbucks on Lane and High. As the week went on, however, I was able to adjust.

Although the classes last for such a long time, we have a 15-minute coffee break halfway through. The cafes at our business school are extremely cheap and I can get a coffee for 0.40 euros. It’s safe to say that I look forward to my vanilla lattes every day. Additionally, all my classes are interactive, and I find the time quickly passing due to discussions in small groups with my peers, in-class assignments, and Q&A sessions with my professors. Another perk of the lengthy class times is the shortened duration of the semester. I have classes until the beginning of April with a week-long winter break at the end of February. We then take one month to study for finals and prepare final projects. This flexibility to study on my own time and set a schedule for myself reminds me a little bit of home. Furthermore, some of my classes do not meet every week and I have ample time to prepare readings for these classes. Although the majority of my grade is affected by my final exams, this generous amount of time given to us to prepare for each lecture will make it much easier to recall information while studying for finals.

My favorite thing about my classes is how diverse my peers are. Not only are there native French students but exchange students from all over the world. Every day, I've been able to learn one new thing about a different part of the world. In my International Team Management course, there are over seven countries represented by my peers. We took two lecture sessions to understand more about each country represented and how each country conducts business through interactive presentations. I’ve been able to learn about how Argentinian business customers differ from the Japanese, using Hofstede’s scale as a point of reference. Then, over the course of the semester, my professor will take these different customs and teach us how to manage multi-cultural teams in an effective manner. Additionally, all my classes require group projects and each student in a group must be from a different country. This has been a great way to get to know my peers and learn more about how their lives differ from my own.

=Watching the sunset by the River RhineI’ve truly understood that this is a once in a lifetime experience to be exposed to so many different backgrounds all at once. Study abroad is not just about travel and attending classes but gaining a higher level of cultural awareness and understanding of how to interact with students from largely different backgrounds than our own.

I’m extremely excited to see how my classes will progress and I will continue tracking the differences between my education in the states and here in France.