Alumni
Paige McDonald '13 Spends Freshman Year in Paris
Paige McDonald '13 is a freshman at NYU and is spending her first year of college at NYU Paris. She will return to New York City for her sophomore year. Her program is the Global Liberal Studies, a humanities-based major which allows her to study abroad both her freshman and junior years.
"I’ve absolutely been loving Paris. The city, the people, and the food (obviously) are all so incredible to experience as my first step into the world outside of Baltimore."
The language barrier has been an adjustment for Paige, especially since she studied Spanish since Sixth Age. However, her French has improved by leaps and bounds and she can get through essentially all basic interactions without having to speak English. Another hard thing for Paige was not being able to come back to Baltimore for Thanksgiving with her family and this was a hard time. Luckily, though, she was able to attend an “American Thanksgiving in Paris” thanks to her chance meeting with an American expat. Although not being with her family over the holiday was tough, there have been many amazing opportunities throughout her year abroad.
"The best part so far is definitely that I’ve been privileged enough to travel all around France and throughout Europe; so far I’ve visited Chantilly, Giverny, Dunkerque, Calais, Barcelona, Madrid, Stockholm, London, Brussels, and Ghent. I’m trying my best to squeeze in as many places as I can before the semester is over, while still making sure I have plenty of time to explore Paris. Being in Paris has taught me so much about myself and what I want. Having been able to travel and meet all kinds of new people has opened up my world so much."
Calvert School is a coed independent lower and middle school.
