Journalism student finds second home in Paris

If you had asked me six months ago, I wouldn’t say that I had moved to Paris, or that I lived in Paris even. At that point, it was still temporary. There was always a date upon which I knew I would return home. But now, Paris is the home I return to.

My time in Paris was originally always supposed to be limited. I came to study abroad through the U of M’s partner program for my fall semester for five months, and then I was to return home for Christmas before continuing my studies in Memphis once again.

Obviously, though, this did not happen. Somewhere along the way, I thought that maybe I wanted to stay in Paris a little while longer. I can’t tell you why exactly (although the copious amounts of baguettes, croissants, wine and cheese certainly probably had something to do with it). I just knew I wasn’t finished with Paris yet, and, if I left then, I may not have had another chance.

By November, I was determined to stay. I had six weeks left in Paris, and the thought of going home made my heart rate pick up with anxiety. I study journalism, but I love photography as well. With my French being limited, I thought that finding a journalism-related internship might be a little bit difficult. Photography, on the other hand, could be possible.

Much like Paris, photography somehow grew on me over time. I came into college wanting to study journalism so that I could write for a living, but as more and more opportunities to practice photography started appearing throughout my freshman year, the more I grew to love it. Soon, journalism became merely what I studied, but taking photos became my passion—or, more precisely, telling a story through captured moments rather than words.

This is how I ended up searching for internships with fashion photographers. I had never done fashion photography, but, if I were to live in Paris, it would certainly be the place to try it. I emailed anyone and everyone who was a fashion photographer, saying I could work full time, I’m eager to learn, and I work hard.

Eventually, I found an internship. At this point, I hadn’t told anyone in the states that I wanted to stay. I first proposed the idea to my advisor, Matt Haught, and he was immediately on board. I had enough gen-ed classes left that I could take those online plus an internship class to remain a full-time student and still receive my scholarships.

A few hoops jumped through later, I returned to Paris in February after going home after my first semester abroad. I was supposed to go home again this past August, but my internship was extended, and I found more online classes.

And that, is the long-short story of how I moved to Paris, and also the long-short story of how I ended up with two homes—one in America and one in France. Both are good. Both are different. But different is good too.