It still feels unreal that I was in Paris just five days ago. Since being home, I immediately had to go back to work and haven’t really had the time to reflect on my trip. As my last official blog post, I’ll take the time to share my reflection with you all. Paris itself was nothing short of amazing. The food was great, the people were nice, the landmarks were stunning, and in a general sense, I was very happy. Despite having a packed class schedule in Paris, I still felt like I got to experience Paris completely as a city and as the host site for the Olympics. While I wish I attended more Olympic events, the guest speakers and tours more than made up for that.
As for the Olympics, that was the cherry on top. Nothing could have prepared me for what I experienced while at the Olympics and it is safe to say I will cherish those two and a half weeks for my entire life. After speaking with locals in Paris, I was also told that this was the best time to visit Paris as many of the local Parisians left for the games. Because of this, Paris was a lot less crowded than it normally is, and to me it never felt too overwhelming. It makes sense why I was able to buy tickets and climb to the top of the Arc de Triomphe in the span of twenty minutes.
I hope that one day, I can return to the Olympics with the knowledge I gained from this course. While I may return one day to watch the games as a spectator, nothing will compare to getting a behind the scenes look while in Paris. It’ll be quite hard to beat this experience, unless I join this course again as an alumni.
I want to express my utmost gratitude to Dr. Neirotti, Terrence Burns, and Lisa Chazanovitz for their hard work in making our experience memorable. I learned so much in the short time I was there and got to experience so many things most people can only dream of. THANK YOU!
