Marie

I was born in the small town of Parthenay, France before moving to the even smaller village of Gourgé. My parents had taught nutrition and agriculture in Cote d’Ivoire and when I was six, my dad was appointed director of Fidesco, an NGO that focuses on international solidarity. All of which is to say, I grew up in a household where caring for others was non-negotiable. I moved to Gainesville, Georgia when I was 16, where my parents were participating in a humanitarian mission and while I already spoke English and Spanish, I soon realized that English in the US was a whole other story (also, it took me three months to decipher the American southern accent). Three years later, I’d completed the International Baccalaureate (IB).  

After high school, I wanted to return to France but I also wanted to remain in an international environment and keep studying English. I immediately fell in love with AUP’s global perspective, its recognition of how hard it is to be an IB student (I was able to enroll as a sophomore), and its great financial aid packages. Orientation at AUP was my first time being in Paris on my own.

I’m now majoring in History and minoring in Middle Eastern Studies. I’d always wanted to study History, and after taking Arabic with Professor Fouad Mlih and learning about the Middle East with Professor Ziad Majed, my passion for the region, especially its contemporary history, has only grown. I love our intimate classroom spaces and how approachable our professors are. In fact, one of my favorite academic moments so far was a debate that took place in a 10-person History seminar, led by Professor Albert Wu. Being here has allowed me to discover my real interests and ambitions, which makes sense since I think this is the kind of environment that challenges you to learn all that you can about other cultures, other people, and yourself.  

I also appreciate how many extracurricular activities are available to us here. I’m now a member of the Wine Society and the Environmental and Community Services Committee, I volunteer with AUP Care; I recently became Co-President of Roots and Shoots; a chapter of the Jane Goodall Institute; I’m a Student Advisor; and I’m the school senate’s History Representative. I also got to participate in last summer’s trip to Île Sainte-Marie in Madagascar to visit l’Association Jeunes Malgaches et de Jeunes de Toute Origine, which educates over 140 students from disadvantaged families and with which AUP has been working for more than six years.  

I’ll soon be applying to History graduate school programs, possibly to research the role of women in the contemporary Middle East or during the early modern European period. Living in Paris has been a fantastic way to expand my passion for discovering how the world’s past and present can shape its future. I really don’t think that anyone can be indifferent to Paris and I’m convinced that it’s impossible to see everything in this culturally and historically rich city. I’ve made some of my closest friends here and I find it wonderful how even if we all come from completely different countries, we got to meet in Paris. It was here that I finally understood that home isn’t just a place: it’s wherever the people who mean the most to you live.