Two Weeks in France

Our Guest Today Is: Nicole

Hello all,

Today marks the end of my second week of work in France. These first two weeks have been primarily a time for observation, as stipulated by my work contract. Essentially, my goal these two weeks was to observe how classes run in France, and to introduce myself and get acquainted with the students.

There are six English teachers at my high school, and each of them teaches a couple classes. In most of their classes, I came in to introduce myself for the full 55 minute period using the slideshow below. The students had a chance to ask me a number of questions both about myself and the US. For these classes, I will take a portion of the class and teach my own lecture each week. I also sat in on “Euro” sections, which are where students take math and science in English. I’ll be assisting in these sections with pronunciation and vocabulary. I also got to see other classes just for fun, like history.

Even though I presented this same slideshow like twelve times, I still had so much fun doing it.

Here are some excerpts from the slideshow I showed the students:

This map shows where I’ve lived. I had students guess how far it is between the stars, and they were shocked by how big the United States is. Yes, it really does take 6 hours to fly from New York to California!

God I hope Mr. Pratt never reads this, but each time I presented this photo in a particular English teacher’s class, she would say, “well it might have been an all-girls school, but that history teacher doesn’t look too bad!” *wink*. You’ve got admirers overseas, Mr. Pratt.

Every time this slide came up there was this unanimous audible gasp around the room. Students were shocked and amazed to see the university, and kept saying “are you sure it wasn’t a castle beforehand?” I told them that this is just the front entrance and there are several other quads but usually they all looked at me in annoyance like “why is she lying about the number of quads? Surely there cannot be more than this.”

Students would stare blankly at this picture until I clarified, “that’s me.” Then they would look from this picture back to the real-life me like “wow you’ve really let yourself go.” I would say, “this picture was taken just a few months ago, in May,” and they would send me pitying glances at the apparent downfall of my beauty regimen.

One of the English teachers really had students study up on my presentation, and they had to take this quiz afterwards! Others had to write a one page essay about my life. It was so bizarre (weird, cool, touching, awesome!) to read about myself from their eyes. (Nicole likes horse riding; she went to Madeira; she lives here in Mayenne!).




Throughout my observations, I was weirdly proud of knowing the answers to questions in class… even though I have already been to high school and have in fact already completed college. In observing a science class, I was so proud of myself (I got Question #2 right… it’s True – people in industrialized countries do often eat more processed foods than in developing countries!!!). Even in English class I kept giving myself a mental pat on the back… for knowing high-school level foreign language vocabulary in my own language. It essence, the two weeks of sitting in on high school classes have just affirmed my nerd status – I really like school. I love being presented with fascinating new ideas every day, I love getting questions right, and it is such a meaningful experience when good teachers guide you through the whole process.



I hope to be one of those good teachers.



All the best,

Nicole.

First Five Days

Five Tools I Used to Survive the First Five Days...

and how they were all essentially to my detriment



I have had the most wonderful beginning of my stay. People are all very nice and helpful; the area around Mayenne is very rustic and beautiful; I ate four croissants last Thursday. I've had to adjust quite quickly to only speaking French all day everyday, but already I can tell I've improved (last week I was not so optimistic, but today I have a positive outlook).


But anyway, here are the things I've done to get by my rocky adjustment to French language and life.

Smiling and Nodding

I have done a ton of smiling and nodding my first few days here. It’s mostly a combination of 1). People being very nice and friendly, and 2). People telling me vital information that I’ll need for my stay. Thus… smiles. Head nods. The main problem is everything is happening so fast, and I understand very little of what’s being said to me. In trying to seem agreeable this first week I’ve kind of smiled to get by, but at the expense of people thinking I have any clue what they’re talking about.


Example:

The school secretary handed me some papers, told me some things, and thing offered a lengthy description of where my mailbox was (the personal one, for the apartment), how to open it, what mail would go there, what address to use for it… lots of things I’d very much like to know. I smiled the whole time, nodded along, said, “ah, oui, okay,” the whole time. And she smiled and left, having definitively given me all I needed. But truth be told, what I got from that conversation was “mailbox… words, words, words,” and not much else. Perhaps if I had looked a little more confused and less like an enthusiastic lottery winner finding out how to collect her prize, I might know how to get my mail.


Blank Stares


Ah, yes, blank stares. The opposite end of the “pretending to understand what’s being said” spectrum. To me, blank stares are reserved for when you’re so confused you can’t even fake it. It’s when you’re so overwhelmed that your brain cannot even compute a logical response, and goes into shutdown mode, essentially abandoning you in your idiocy.

Example:

At lunch at the teacher’s table, someone asked me what I planned to do that afternoon. I had no clue what she’d said, so I asked her if she could repeat. She did, slowly, and yet I still had no clue what she’d said. I couldn’t ask her to say it a third time – that’s just too much. So I just stared at her awkwardly. Panic engulfed my brain. I looked next to her, to Claudine, an incredibly kind English teacher who has shepherded me through these stressful times, even taking me into her own home. My look was kind of like, “Mom, help.” Like as a kid when you go to the doctor and you know exactly what’s wrong, but still rely on your mom to describe your symptoms to the scary stranger.

Claudine did me a solid, saying “this afternoon.”

I had hoped she would translate then answer the question for me, but of course, no one knew what I was doing that afternoon but me. “La banque,” I finally got out in embarrassment.


Ca Va



It’s one of the most versatile phrases, and I’ve used it to my advantage, essentially to avoid having to elaborate or use any foreign or unnecessary words. I’m not sure if I’m using it right, but, hey, ca va.

As in:

How’s it going? Ca va. Do you have everything you need? Oui, ca va, merci. I can arrange for more pillows if you like. Non, merci, ca va. Let’s plan your first lesson tomorrow! Ok, ca va.



“Je ne parle pas francais”

I’m not proud of this one. Pretending you don’t speak French when you flew thousands of miles just to practice the language is, really, a low move.

Example:

I was with Claudine finding some sheets for the Spanish language assistant to use. The woman who we borrowed them from noticed I had smiled and nodded but not said a thing during the whole encounter, and finally she turned to me and said, “tu ne parles pas bien francais, alors?”


And Claudine’s back was turned, so after thinking about it for a minute, I simply shook my head and said…. Nope.


Claudine turned sharply back and said, “no! She speaks French well! Elle parle francais!!”


Hide


It’s all been a little overwhelming. Although I went abroad before, I mostly traveled with a pack of American kids to big tourist cities where many people speak English. I’ve never been immersed this way, and the first couple of days were very confusing and a little lonely. My first day on my own, I bought a big pack of cookies and hid in the apartment until it was time to go to bed.




Things have been tricky, but also really rewarding too. I’ve been shocked. Despite the fact that what I’m doing is moreso speaking words that resemble ones in French rather than actually speaking French, people understand me. I set up my French phone number. I opened a bank account (and signed a million documents to do so). I hung out in the teacher’s lounge, went to the grocery store, chatted with the bank manager – I say words and people take them to mean something. Magic.


Nicole

I'm Going to France

Well, this is it. Tomorrow I fly to France and start my new job as an English language assistant.

Two weeks ago, I started to compose a blog post called “On Being Afraid.” It was about all the fears I have going into TAPIF, fears that are in fact even greater than when I went on Semester at Sea. It’s hard to believe given that deep water is my biggest fear, and I willingly chose to put myself on a ship for three months and cross the deep deep Atlantic Ocean. But it’s true. I had a few general fears before beginning Semester at Sea, but I knew I would be safe with friends and professors. I knew I would be missed if I showed up to the ship past the time we were due to sail on to the next port. I was not worried for that journey the way I am worried now.

It was poetic, this blog post I composed. It was about all the fears I have going into TAPIF, and how even still, it’s something I choose to do. It was about how I truly believe the most important thing in life is doing the things that scare us. For only then do we feel alive, and only in being afraid can we experience that beautiful relief washing over us, that euphoria, when everything eventually goes all right.

But I scrapped it.

It was too poetic, too tender and out of place on the blog, and anyways, I’m no poet.

Despite scrapping my blog post on “fears and how to conquer them,” I do have one last fear before leaving for France tomorrow. One that’s a little lighter, one that I’m willing to share:

It has to do with actually speaking French.

It’s most people’s first question when I tell them I am going to teach in France for seven months. “Oh, well do you speak French?” they immediately ask. Usually I am surprised, because that’s not the first thing I’d ask. I guess I would just assume that someone spending that long in France actually speaks French, although I know that’s not necessarily the case for a lot of people and programs out there. But alas, I smile and shrug and say, “a bit,” which I hope conveys the two years of middle school, four years of high school and four years of college I’ve spent trying to learn the language.

The problem is, while I’ve been learning French for quite a while, I’m plagued with two issues. First, I have a terrible memory in general. I could spend months learning something only to forget it all within the next year, which is actually not great when it comes to this very pricey education I now have. Second, and perhaps more importantly, my knowledge of conversational French is quite limited.

It seems like it shouldn’t be possible, after 10 years of French. But once entering college, my French became a bit… specialized. In 307, we read an entire book from the first-person perspective of a tree. For that semester I gained a very good vocabulary of words like branch, limb, trunk, bark, apple tree, pear tree, fertile soil, you name it, words that I’m now not sure what to do with (the words I remember, anyway). In my “Love Stories” class we read La Dame aux Camélias and I learned ten different types of prostitutes, and the proper words to describe them all. I can't help but hope those words aren't a part of my daily vocabulary this year. I had the most wonderful teachers and I learned the most fascinating, valuable things, but now that I’m about to spend all this time in France, I’m worried about certain practical matters.

For instance:

A few days ago I decided to try to set my French cell phone service up from the States, just to see if I could. I had some issues charging my credit card, and I ended up having to call customer service. (It was actually very neat, if you do it over your computer you can basically Skype with someone in customer service and they can send you helpful links - very cool).

So, the video starts up and this beautiful woman of color smiles at me and asks me, in French, what problems I’m having.

I smile and say bonjour, and then pause, because I don’t really know any other relevant greetings. Do I say comment ca va? Ask her how she is? No, we’re not two friends catching up. Let’s just move on.

I describe the issue in detail and she gives me a funny look, but I continue on in my valiant charge to do the best I can. Man, why do I have all this tree vocabulary and nothing for dealing with customer service???

As I finish a very awkward recounting of my technological woes, she looks at me for a long minute, taking it all in. She's a little hesitant, probably from having to parse through a complete butchering of her language.
Finally: “Ok... oui, I think I have an idea,” she says in French. “There were some words I didn’t understand, but I think I know what the issue is.”

I feel like laughing, but I just smile because I know it would be an anxious, desperate laugh, and that would be creepy. “Oui,” I say, c’est probablement parce que j’ai inventé quelques mots.” I made up most of the words in that story.

We fumbled through a solution despite my abysmal language abilities, and finally got to the goodbyes, where I simply repeated everything she said because I didn’t know what to say. Right down to, “I hope this was helpful for you, too.” No, Nicole. Just repeat the parts where she says “Au revoir” and say “I hope you have a nice day, too.”

We hung up and I looked up all the words I had essentially invented on the spot. Much like I thought, the real words for “charge” and “cancel payment” were nothing like the ones I was trying to use.

I felt this heavy feeling sink over me, realizing the next seventh months were about to be me trying to get people to understand words I’d made up in my head. At the same time, though – isn’t this why I want to go? To fumble around until finally, hopefully, I develop some sense of understanding?

Although over the past couple of weeks I've had many fears going into TAPIF, right now I’m mostly excited, and hopeful. Yes, I will butcher a beautiful language. But I will teach English, and learn French, and get to know people and drink fine wine and explore a gorgeous countryside. And when I come back? I’ll know how to say “tree roots” and chat with a local.

I leave for this journey tomorrow, September 26^th. I hope you will join me and read along.

Best,

Nicole

Same Blog, New Content

Preparing for the Teaching Assistant Program in France

Dear readers,

Welcome to my new and improved travel blog, To Sea the World. After using this blog to document my journey on Semester at Sea, I’m now turning to my next adventure: teaching English in France. While I love a good nautical theme, it’s a tad less fitting for my land-based adventures in France, so I’ve had to spend a bit of time tossing cartoon-y pictures of anchors overboard and scrubbing salt water out of the nook and crannies of the blog’s inner workings. Excessive nautical imagery all simply to say: here’s my updated blog, slightly less “sea” themed, ready to go. (Although, as many of you know I can’t resist a good pun, so the blog title quite obviously had to stay).

Posts on this blog from here on out will all refer to my experience doing the Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF). I’ve wanted to live in France since I first started taking French in seventh grade. It’s been on my bucket list right there next to “learn to ride a unicycle” and “attend the Kentucky Derby.” (In case it’s cause for concern, I’ve updated the list since seventh grade and “achieve impressive unicycle feats” is no longer on the list. I don’t know where that one came from). Despite many changes over the years, my desire to live in France for some period of time has not changed. Learning the dreaded subjunctive tense, watching film after 1960s Nouvelle Vague film, and spending long hours attempting to understand Camus have not shaken my resolve. If anything, my desire to deepen my understanding of the language has increased with every French class I take. So it is with a great deal of excitement that I turn to this next chapter in my life.

What will I be doing exactly?

I actually don't know too much. I know that I'll be working with high school students in small groups in a little village called Mayenne, in the Nantes school district. I know it's pretty rural, and I should have lots of time for exploring. I anticipate that I'll be eating far too many croissants and pastries. The rest is a mystery, an adventure I'm eagerly awaiting. 

So, from here on out begin a series of posts documenting my next great adventure, my move to France. I'm counting down to my departure on September 26, and I hope to keep you posted as the day approaches. In the meantime, you can read more about the program on my about page, here.

Much love,

Nicole

The Semester at Sea Packing List

Dear future Semester at Sea students,

Before I left for SAS, I found these great blogs here and here which helped me craft my packing list. I wanted to add my own thoughts so that you are as prepared as possible!

Nicole's Packing List

Clothing

-       Basic cotton shirts: 10

-       Sleepwear/t-shirts: 4    you will buy a few, but better to have enough to start

-       Long-sleeved lightweight shirt

-       Sundresses: 2   I wish I'd brought more! Maybe 3-4

-       Bottoms: 4 pair shorts, 1 pair capris, 1 fun skirt, 1 long skirt, and 3-4 pair jeans  it will get cold in the countries at night!

-       Athletic: shorts, sports bras, bathing suits, yoga pants    who was I kidding with the whole trying to look nice thing - I should have packed more sweatpants! 2-3 pair yoga pants

-       Warm wear: cardigan, sweater, sweatshirt    I would have killed for a jean or leather jacket - it gets cold at night in-country, but you still want to look decent! Also, the ship is cold. Bring warm casual stuff and warm sleepwear.

-       Rain coat 

-       Formal wear: nice dress   didn't really use, but you really never know...

-       Scarf

-       Belts

-       Undergarments

-       Business appropriate outfit      actually came in handy

-       1 going out outfit (nice top & jeans)  this was crazy. What was I thinking. You need 4-5 going out outfits that you can mix and match. 99.5% of SAS students go out at least once in each port. About a third go out every night in each port. You don't want to miss out on a country's night scene. Bring some options!

Shoes

-       Regular sneakers

-       All-terrain shoes (ex casual hiking shoes)   not necessary, but handy

-       Flip flops

-       Converse or casual shoes for walking

-       1 pair all purpose flats

-       Consider a fun/basic pair of heels

Toiletries

-       Body: Body wash, Deodorant, Lotion

-       Chapstick

-       Hair: Comb & Brush, Shampoo, Conditioner, hairbands

-       Nail care: polish, remover, file, clippers

-       Razors

-       Toothbrush, toothpaste, floss

-       Tissues (1 box + 4 on the go packs)    I am prone to allergies, so you don't necessarily need this!

-       Tweezers

-       sunscreen

-       travel size items

Electronics

-       Laptop & charger

-       phone & charger

-       camera? & charger      I actually survived the whole trip on my iPhone's camera!

-       headphones (x2)

-       portable hard drive     This is actually a must! (or a flash drive). People will put movies and TV shows on a shared drive and it's great to swap shows and store them for yourself.

-       Flash drive

-       European adapter

School

-       One notebook (medium)

-       Writing: highlighters, pens, pencils

-       Scissors

-       Post-its

-       Journal    Keeping a journal is a lot of work, but 100% rewarding

-       Folder

Medicine

-       Prescription: Malaria, diarrhea

-       Allergies: Claritin, benadryl

-       Cold: dayquil, airborne, cough drops      Airborne will save your life!

-       Misc: pepto bismal, tums, seasickness, advil       Pepto will save your life!

-       First aid kit

-       Hand sanitizer

-       Mosquito repellant with DEET

Misc

-       Snacks: snack bars, m&ms, gum     can't go wrong with nutella, but you will also buy snacks in-country

o   Candy for kids: something w individ wrappers that wont melt

-       Beach towel

-       Blanket           having my own blanket was really nice and a personal touch for the bed

-       Bags: drawstring, cross-body purse, small duffle, backpack

-       Anti-wrinkle spray; laundry detergent bar     there's a handy clothes line for hand-washing clothes in the bathroom. 

-       Magnets & photos

-       Ziplock bags

-       Important documents: copies of passport, extra passport photos, copy of credit card, copy of license, immunization records

-       Water bottle (2) and thermos or mug

-       US things to give out     gifts from home are nice to give out to locals!

-       Umbrella

-       Sunglasses

-       Safety pins and bobby pins

-       Laundry bag

-       Foreign currency & USD       US dollars helpful for paying people back on the ship

-       Yellow Fever card

Also, consider packing a small collapsable duffle bag on the way over so that you can bring your extra souvenirs back at the end.

That's it! I had the time of my life on Semester at Sea and hope you do too!

All the best,

Nicole

New York, NY

Dear friends and family,

It's official: I'm back in the United States! On December 8 I returned from the whirlwind journey otherwise known as the Semester at Sea Fall 2014 Voyage.

It's been strange coming back. First off, everyone speaks English. We did not have to fight our cab driver in broken syllables for a fair fare on the way to the airport. Also, they give you free water at restaurants here right as you sit down - a pleasant and welcome surprise. Strangely enough though, no one seems to want to let me pay in euros, or rubles, or real. I guess I'll just have to dig around for some US dollars now that I'm back.

The day after I returned, I sat in my bed at home, the same one I'd sat in before the whole trip even started. I looked around the room and thought - was that all a dream? I saw a bag of souvenirs - things like carved wooden figures, keychains, argan oil, artwork and chocolate, and thought nope, that stuff is real. But did I really ride a camel? Could I have danced the night away with a sixty-year-old Polish man in Gdansk? Would I really have jumped in a pool full of slime and kissed a slimy raw fish on Neptune Day? The memories seem impossible. I have to tell myself that it happened - and that it happened to me.

The Journey is Just Beginning

The last night of the voyage, my friends and I stayed up all night, unable to imagine that this incredible voyage was coming to an end. For the last week, we'd been eagerly anticipating going home and seeing friends and family, but also dreaming of material comforts like consistent wifi and Chipotle. But now... it was real. This was the end.

The final night we were sailing from the Bahamas (for a fuel refill) to Florida, and around 4:30 in the morning you could see the shore of Ft. Lauderdale with all its buildings and lights.
"Ah," I joked, "you can practically taste the freedom and democracy from here."
"That's America," my friends joked back cynically.

I think for a lot of people, the United States had always seemed like the greatest country on earth... until they visited 14 more, and realized that although the world is a big place, we, as people, are mostly the same. There's a spectrum of reactions to seeing different ways of life. Some of my friends have denounced America forever, seeing corruption, inequality, and materialism in place of "home." Others have embraced the privileges we are offered as Americans and respect their birthplace more than ever. I'd say I'm somewhere in the middle. Either way, we left knowing nothing but our home, but returned hungry for more culture, more experiences, more connections.

I thought I'd be ready for two solid weeks of peace, quiet, and a warm bed, but instead I'm fired up. I'm ready to go to India, to see Senegal and Ghana, to visit Greece and Egypt and Australia. You thought my travel blog was coming to a close, but it's just getting started.

Thank you, dear readers, for following the ups and downs of my trip abroad. I don't know if I say it enough, but it was really, truly special to know so many people were reading about my adventures. I had my friends and family with me through thick and thin. I hope you enjoyed the blog as well.


Much Love,

Nicole


***I promised in my first post that I would upload my SAS packing list now that I know what worked and didn't, so I will post that soon.

P.S. I know, you're dying to find out the final results of my official, scientific, global study of fried chicken. Have no fear - America, you are queen of fried foods.

Havana, Cuba

Dear Danielle,

 

Thank you so much for showing me around Havana! I had a wonderful time exploring the city with you. Maybe it's become normal to you, but the opportunity to study abroad in Cuba for a semester is incredible. It's awesome that you got that experience.

 

After leaving Cuba, my Travel Writing class discussed our experience there and we all had a similar sentiment, which I think my professor summed up nicely:

 

"It's a paradise of rum, old cars, culture and history… until it's not."

 

I can't think of a better way to describe the four days there.

 

"It's a paradise…"

 

Cuba is a beautiful place. The water is a clear, perfect blue, and the air is warm and light. Don't expect to see a Toyota or Audi here - cars dating back to the 1960s are the norm, and the electric blues, pinks, and yellows of the old cars brighten every street.

 

There was a great deal of fanfare for our arrival in Cuba. While a limited amount Americans are still able to travel there (about 5,000 a year), here were 600+ students coming at once, bearing messages of goodwill and a desire to know more about their country.

The first day, our entire student body boarded about 20 buses for a procession through the city ending at the University of Havana. The road ascends and curves just before the university, so that when you step out of the bus the white marble building that forms the entrance to the university looms high above. We gathered at the base of the wide steps to the university, and then en masse we processed up the 88 steps to the tune of "Imagine." The music echoed around us while Cuban students hugged and kissed us to welcome us to their university. The air was full of goodwill and hope for a different future.

We gathered in a main square of the university, where there were speeches of unity and celebration. There were performances of traditional dance and song. They put on some upbeat Cuban music as a filler between events, and it turned into an impromptu dance party right in the square, where all of us students danced together without needing to tackle the language barrier – it was just all of us, together, laughing and celebrating.

 

"…Until it's not"

 

Please understand: I had a wonderful time in Cuba, and the people there are so warm and friendly. But there was a clear political message the moment we stepped off the ship – specifically, about the Cuban Five.

I had absolutely no clue who the Cuban Five were before arriving in Cuba. I know this is the moment where I'm supposed to tell you all about them so I can proceed with the story, but I still don't feel I have enough of the details to fully inform you. So if you want to know, here is the Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Five.

The Cuban Five were everywhere, in part on our behalf. There were posters, billboards, signs everywhere. We had a huge University of Havana v. Semester at Sea basketball game with uniforms, singing of both national anthems, massive crowd engagement, and diplomatic goodwill but right on the court was a huge sign shaming Obama for not returning the Cuban Five to Cuba.

 

We also went to the Children's Theater, a group of children renowned worldwide for theater and music. They put on a special performance just for us on that Saturday. We were charmed, at first, at the young age of the children, their musical talent, and their acting. But we were wrong when we assumed this evening would be a break from political messages. The entire play was about the Cuban Five, glorifying the five and shaming the United States. The entire audience grew increasingly uncomfortable. It rubbed all of us the wrong way, and by the end we weren't sure whether to clap or not. It felt exploitive. These children – as young as three years old – could not possibly understand the political messages they'd been taught to sing. They were innocent children, but they felt like props in something larger, and no matter where you stand on the issue it felt wrong to see children used for political gain.

 

Although I did not personally experience this, it is illegal for anyone in Cuba to talk to an American tourist without a permit. Police would actually question and arrest Cubans trying to talk to students from Semester at Sea. All of the wonderful University of Havana students who talked to us so passionately and who showed us around were specially chosen for that task.

 

I don't think that's the real Cuba, though – or rather, the political pressure we felt is only part of the story.

 

My experience with you, Danielle, was nothing like that. I never felt under some sort of political pressure like I did when I was with large groups of American students – pressure to lift the embargo, return the Cuban Five, or to spread messages of Cuba's success to our American friends and family. It was an authentic experience where I got to see a totally different side of Havana, and a totally different image of Cuba. Some parts were still off-putting, such as how little people make and the things they do to get by, but I am so grateful to have learned so much from you, through your months spent here.

 

I was hesitant to write about the political aspects, because most of the time was filled with meeting and talking to warm, caring local people, dancing rumba, and tasting delicious Cuban food. The food was great – rice and beans, yucca, sweet donut-like pastries, light cream-filled cakes and coconut ice cream, stewed seafoods and savory grilled chicken. There may be issues, but Cuba is a place of wonderful culture, food, and people.

 

Thank you, Danielle, for taking me under your wing. I won't forget my time there. I loved the rumba show by Yoruba Andabo and the opportunity to learn more about Santería through the initiation we attended. That was such a special experience of religion, food, and dance, and I felt lucky to be welcomed into such a unique, authentic moment. Thank you. I can't wait to see you back at WashU!

 

Best,

 

Nicole