Just three days before the application deadline for the Georgia Tech-Lorraine (GTL) program [Now Georgia Tech-Europe], I was planning on spending my Spring 2020 semester in Clemson, South Carolina, without any knowledge that the GTL Program existed. 
Two days before the application deadline, my best Nate and I were studying (procrastinating) in the library, and he told me he wanted to study abroad. I told him that he should’ve signed up months ago, and I reminded him that there are hardly any good options for Mechanical Engineering majors to study abroad that wouldn’t set our graduation date back. Like him, I had always wanted to study abroad, but I never imagined it would work with my intended major and my goals for graduation. He acknowledged my points were valid and gave up on the subject until about 20 minutes later when he said, “Jess, what if I told you there was a program that had everything we wanted?” To which I replied, “I’d say you’re lying.”
Just like that, two days before the deadline for the GTL Program, Nate and I had our hearts set on going; we ran around frantically to get everything in before the applications closed. On the day of the deadline, we put down our deposits with two other Clemson students, and we told everyone we knew that we were going to France!
Now, I am not really a last-minute person at all! I love color-coded and VERY organized planners, shared calendars, and lists. I have always been someone who is very “by the book.” If I was going to take a risk, it would be a calculated risk, and I would’ve had Plan A through Plan Z written down. But when all of life’s really big flashing arrows are pointing you in one direction, even if that’s not what you had planned and even if you don’t have your plans written down, that’s the direction you go, and the direction we decided to go just happened to be taking us to France.
With that, only a few weeks later, Nate and I were on the first flight out of Atlanta, GA, on our way to the Paris airport, where we spent an entire day traveling, waiting, sleeping, and trying to keep our nerves at a minimum. But our nerves remained high until we moved into our new rooms and were assigned our new roommates for the next few weeks. At first, I felt immediate regret. I had made it into my room and realized that I felt alone and misunderstood in a foreign country and that there was no turning back. Then, I met my roommate, and everything changed.
In only a matter of days, we developed a friendship that I know now will last a lifetime, and only a few days later, we were traveling together for the first time. The GTL program was designed for travel, and we had every intention of taking advantage of that. We would have busy four-day weeks and reserve our weekends for travel abroad. With that, each weekend, my roommate and I and the friends we met along the way would all travel somewhere different than we had the week before, somewhere we could’ve never dreamed of going prior to this study abroad experience.
Our travels started out slowly, as planning to travel was foreign to all of us when we first got to France. However, we quickly gained confidence in planning trips, staying in hostels, and spending time on trains. After gaining confidence, we traveled like traveling was our middle name.
We started in Metz, where we would live for the semester. While in Metz, we watched a European soccer match, went to the museums and cathedrals around our area, and went shopping for clothes that would allow us to not stick out like a sore thumb.
Following our explorations around Metz, we made our way to Luxemburg, where we spent some time exploring the culture, art, and architecture of such a historically-rich location. While in Luxemburg, we got to go for a hike, where we found some incredible views, and we even met some wonderful locals who showed us some key pieces of Luxemburg art around the trails.
Our next trip brought us to Amsterdam, where we got to go on a boat tour, experience the nightlife, visit the Anne Frank house, go to the Van Gogh Museum, and participate in their world-renowned Tulip Festival that they only have once a year! Here, we ate a ton of breakfast dishes, apparently a staple in Amsterdam.
Next, we made our way to Prague, where we watched many street performers do their thing, watch their famous Astrological Clock Tower turn on the hour, go to an ice bar, and even visit the Lennon Wall, among a ton of other things.
Next came Berlin, where we got to take tours of the city and learn about the historical significance of events like the separation of East and West Berlin, the Holocaust, and the impacts those events have had on Berlin’s history. While there, we got to take photos of the remaining parts of the Berlin Wall while eating what I would consider the world’s best pretzel bread.
After Berlin, we made our way to Ljubljana, where we attended a small-town festival and parade that only happens once a year, which is filled with historical significance for this country. Here, we found our way onto a boat tour, climbed to the highest towers we could find, and even tossed fish at a fish market after making our very own blueberry honey, of course!
The next place we stopped was Rijeka, where we somehow found our way into the fifth-largest international parade in the world. How we did this, we aren’t sure. But we had an absolute blast and celebrated like it was Mardi Gras, just with a bunch of people who didn’t speak any languages we could understand!
The list continues, too! In my study abroad experience, I also made it to London, Bordeaux, Munich, Copenhagen, and Paris (for several day trips after school), where I got to go to a London tea room, spend a weekend in an old castle, file a police report in German, watch a danish ballet, and see the view from the top of the Eiffel Tower while eating macaroons.
While my study abroad experiences only lasted half as long as I thought it would due to COVID, I would say that my time there greatly exceeded my expectations. It’s hard to look back on the girl I was when I left Clemson for the first time. I was scared, nervous, and unsure of taking a leap of faith. Now, as I sit here and write this two years later, I realize that I am now a girl who can take risks, jump out of her comfort zone, and conquer the world. After this experience, I have gained a greater sense of my friendships, my identity, and what I want to achieve in this world, and I am so grateful that I used the time I had in college to take that leap of faith.
My mom has always told me that life’s most rushed decisions are either a good time or a good story, but they are always good, and I would come to later find out that she, like always, was right. In a matter of the two days, it took from me finding out about the GTL program to signing up, my plans for the next six months of my life had changed significantly, and I am oh, so glad that they did.
If you would like to participate in the Georgia Tech-Europe program, please visit the GT Europe Eligibility page. You will find deadlines, requirements, and contact information for the program. Clemson students will scroll down to the Students from other U.S. universities (referred to as transient students) for more specific requirements.
