Penn Abroad Ambassador Flore Boitel
Ask Me About...
Going to UPenn enabled me to experience real American college life. I was able to live in dorms on campus, attend frat parties, and eat-in dining halls. I am an English major at King's College London so taking classes in English was nothing new for me, but what I loved was that I was able to take very varied classes, that were not available at King's, such as a King Arthur class or a YA Lit one that I absolutely loved! Being at UPenn is amazing as you are close to New York and Washington, and thus can travel there easily during your semester. Philly has a lot to offer with amazing museums and great food! Being at Penn is the perfect balance between work and social life which was great since I did not want to drown in work. UPenn is an amazing school with much to offer academically and socially!
My Experience at Penn:
Being a student at Penn for the Spring Semester definitely enabled me to challenge myself. Attending such a renowned academic institution has been extremely rewarding, being taught differently than at my home university. I was able to take classes that I would not have been able to take if I stayed at my home institution, and make the most out of my time by attending events such as a reading by Jason Reynolds, or a Ted Talk with the Russo Brothers. UPenn definitely helped me reach my academic goals, pushing myself even more, and bringing me closer to my goal career. It has been such an amazing experience, and will definitely help me in the future!
Other Highlights:
Being a student at Penn enabled me to make amazing friends, and meet people from all over the world! We would eat together every day, we went to Charleston for Spring Break which was amazing, and discovered the United States together. Something that definitely marked my exchange was attending as many basketball games of the school team as possible. My roommate was part of the woman's basketball team and so I attended every single home game, cheering for her with my friends, which was definitely one of my favourite memories! We were also able to attend a Phillies baseball game which was an amazing experience!
Attending Penn for my exchange enabled me to attend a lot of events with the other exchange students such as going ice skating, or a baseball game. I was also able to go with my friend to the cinema every few weeks on Discount Tuesday and attended Black Panther's live-in Concert at the Philadelphia Orchestra. Being a Penn student also means studying, and a lot! However, the classes and professors were absolutely amazing which made me really interested in my classes and excited to learn more. One of my best memories is probably Spring Break, we were able to go to Charleston, South Carolina with some of the friends I made. We rented an Airbnb, went to the beach, ate good nachos, binged watched so many movies, and cooked together!
