Testimonies of our students actually in 3rd year abroad
The campus and student life:
As one of the pioneer students of the Europe-Asia undergraduate course, I look back at the unique experience that the provincial college provided for me. As an Australian living abroad, as far from home as you get, the small campus life allowed me to build very strong relationships with my fellow classmates. The size of the campus also facilitated interaction with all the professors, which is not possible in a larger university. The programme set in Normandy provided the opportunity to initiate and develop many student associations as well as discover a less metropolitan lifestyle before heading abroad for a year and returning to France’s capital for the master’s degree.
As I ponder on my present life at the University of Pennsylvania, I think back with tender affection on a city which I learned to know in its smallest details, whose secrets I discovered and where many memories lie. From the old brick warehouses on the wharfs to the wooden log cabins on the seaside, Le Havre is rich in opportunities while remaining a city of comfortable and practical size. And more than the city, it is the people that made my first college years memorable. You will find a campus in which every face will be, if not friendly, at least familiar: a just balance of intimacy and variety conveying a strong feeling of identity yet withholding individuality and personal space. Coming from all over the world, I met in Le Havre people I otherwise would never have encountered.
The small size of the campus gave us much greater access to the school administration, and they always were very supportive, both administratively and financially, of student initiatives. By the same logic, in the relatively small city of Le Havre, Sciences Po stood out, and we benefited from much greater attention from the City Hall and from the businesses in the region, enabling us to carry out events and projects on a scale students at the other universities in the city had never even imagined attempting.
The campus united many students who came from different European or Asian countries. The European students chose this campus because they were interested in the mysterious Asia. Asian students brought to the campus their own culture on the one hand, also began to discover the European culture. In the past two years, European and Asian students got on very well. We helped mutually and made progress together. I would say that if I were in Paris or other campuses, I would have never met these classmates that were so friendly to me.
Comment résumer deux années sur le campus du Havre? La tache se révèle difficile, mais quand bien même je n’arrive pas à structurer mes pensées, voici quelques mots qui me viennent à l’esprit et qui peuvent nous en donner quelques idées: Europe ; Asie ; nouveaux types de cours ; nouvelles manières de travailler; leçon de vie ; initiative ; lancement et conduite d’activités culturelles et sportives; associations. A première vue, cet assemblage de mots pourrait vous paraître… un peu trop exhaustif, n’est ce pas ? Et comment ! Ceci est la poudre magique qui a agrémenté et comblé la vie de notre campus.
The curriculum:
As I look with retrospection, I remember the intellectual stimulation, the cognitive effervescence, of a program unique in its genre: general yet profound, challenging yet intelligible, I pursued studies in Le Havre with content and quality I would never have found anywhere else. The wide perspectives gained at the end of the two years serve more than just dinner conversations; they empower one to see the world with informed eyes. Even here at Harvard University, people are amazed at how knowledgeable I am ("cultured" is another word they use), even though I would not consider myself of exceptional breadth of knowledge relative to the other students at the campus, all of whom have benefited from the same classes as I have.
The Europe-Asia programme’s multi- disciplinary and comparative specificities reflect the identity of the School itself as well as the teaching method. Each subject is a balanced analysis from both Western and Asian perspectives. All the classes were conducive to interaction between the international and local students. This programme has provided me with a solid basis for the studies I plan to pursue in social sciences and humanities and allowed me to continue Chinese to a level fit to follow courses at Qinghua University on exchange.
All universities claim to act in the interests of their students, and many probably do, but in my opinion Sciences Po is exceptional in this respect. With the immense range of partner universities for the third-year and the joint and double Master's degrees available to returning students, the international opportunities at Sciences Po are unparalleled. The fact that the majority of the student population is international is also a major element at the campus, something found in few other universities.
Conclusions :
In one word, I do benefit a lot from the two years that I have passed in campus Le Havre. I will keep the campus, the city, all of my classmates and teachers in my heart forever. If you are interested in Asian culture, come to campus Europe-Asia and you will find your own wonderful memories.
Mieux que de nous endurcir quelque peu, ces deux années nous auront enrichis, de mille manières, comme rarement aucune autre école ni aucun lieu ne pourront le faire. Certaines rencontres, ainsi que certains cours, auront sans doute eu raison de notre innocence et de notre naïveté, que ce soit sur le plan humain ou des connaissances. Enfin, je pense sincèrement qu'il n'y a rien de tel qu'une croisière sur les mers du Havre, afin de préparer l'arrivée en Asie, et à fortiori... sur tous les continents
Le campus du Havre, c’est avant tout la proximité, la vie en société et comment la gérer. C’est de là que suit ensuite tout le reste : la vie sportive, associative et culturelle, ainsi que tous les travaux de groupe ; qui ont de nombreuses fois prouvés la richesse de notre campus. Maintenant que la Machine est en route, il ne reste plus qu’à nos successeurs à « l’entretenir » et à la « customiser ». Ainsi, en le revisitant dans 3 – 5 - 10 ans, je pourrai réaffirmer que l’endroit où j’ai commencé mes études et donc la deuxième partie de ma vie… « C’est là ! ».
As one of the pioneer students of the Europe-Asia undergraduate course, I look back at the unique experience that the provincial college provided for me.