When the opportunity to come to the United States as a foreign exchange student arose, Nathan Millot had his share of hesitations and concerns.
Millot, a University of Lorraine (UL) student spending the spring semester at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, would be setting foot in the country for the first time, leading to some anxiety.
“I was a bit stressed and scared hearing about some of the racism in America,” Millot, a sophomore business major, said. “Depending on where you could be, you might find people who are very racist or rude, from some of the situations we’ve heard about.”
Fortunately, those early perceptions did not match the reality Millot and his fellow UL classmates have encountered during their experience at UMES.
From the first moments on campus, participating in a pizza party during a Jan. 30 international student orientation session, to his first trips to Washington, D.C., and New York City, Millot is taking in the atmosphere.
“New York and Washington, D.C. are very similar in size to a place like Paris, but there are a lot of large buildings, something that’s not that common in France,” he said. “As for UMES, it feels like a little city with a big family atmosphere. Everyone knows each other and everyone has been kind and welcoming.”
While being in a new country for the first time can leave concerns about the language barrier, that wasn’t much of a challenge for Millot and the French delegation. The students can converse in English while also finding other fellow French speakers on campus, such as students from Cameroon and Senegal, and UMES women’s basketball player Enola Papin, who is also French.
“Their French is very similar to ours, so we can understand each other, and sometimes, we speak a little English and a little French,” he said. “We’ve met some students who speak Creole, but it’s tough to understand. It’s like a remix of French, where I can understand about one or two words.”
Millot said he wants to use his final months on campus to continue to broaden his American experience.
“I’d love to improve my English, because it’s really important to be fluent in as many languages as possible, especially for the professional world,” he said. “I also hope to see a lot more of America because there are so many cities and places I’d love to visit.”
