Senior Sophie Vale brought back exceptional memories from her junior year abroad in France.

Vale traveled to France through a program called School Year Abroad France, and studied at a private school located in Rennes, France.

At SYA France, Vale studied French, as well as typical school subjects like English, math, and science.

Vale noted that her class schedule in France was vastly different from Redwood. Her school began at eight in the morning and lasted until six at night, with a several-hour break in the middle of the day.

Certain cultural changes made returning to American culture difficult at first, Vale said.

“French people are generally very reserved, so even in the American airport, it was a lot louder, and there was just a lot more commotion everywhere,” Vale said.

The size of her school was also an adjustment for Vale, as the program was made up of only 60 American students.

“We all bonded so quickly because we were basically the only people we had,” Vale said. “We formed really tight friendships.”

Aside from the friends Vale made at school, she also became close with the host family that she stayed with for the duration of the year, which was one of her goals upon arriving in France.

“I had five host siblings. They were all really sweet and they helped me out a lot,” Vale said. “They were all really understanding, and once I got to know them they were all really fun.”

Despite the friendships Vale made, she noted that adjusting to life in France was difficult. When she first began the program, she had taken only two years of French, and found it difficult to adjust to speaking only in French, although improving her French skills was the main factor that motivated her to partake in the program.

“Getting thrown into it and having to speak French, you just had to figure it out, because most of the teachers didn’t even speak English and couldn’t help you,” Vale said.

However, after finishing the program Vale said she can speak French almost fluently.

The experience of dealing with the language barrier helped Vale in other ways as well.

“Having to deal with whatever situation gets thrown at you, and learning that you’ll be okay no matter the situation, that has definitely impacted my life now,” Vale said.

The year abroad not only improved her speaking skills, but changed her personally.

“I’m definitely a different person,” Vale said. “I was clearly more independent because I didn’t have my parents like I do here. You definitely learn to do things that you’d otherwise ask for help with, or go with someone else to, but you learn to do it by yourself.”