Getting Schooled, Paris Style
By Pierre Joseph and Brian Perch
Pulsating swells of electronic music rain down from the giant cluster of speakers suspended above the dance floor. Lasers and flashing strobe lights criss-cross through the air and over the gleaming floors of the hottest nightclub in Paris. Scantily clad fashion models undulate in rhythm to the pounding beat. Sophisticated, meticulously dressed young men sip wine and try to act nonchalant in the sheer insanity of the bacchanalia that is going on around them. Is Sacha Casset, a 22-year-old French graduate student, among the revelers?
No, he is asleep 40 minutes away in the quiet suburb in which his family makes their home. It's a school night.
It is easy to get carried away thinking about living in one of the world's most glamorous cities. Fanciful notions about Paris and its citizens abound in the American imagination. My writing partner and I connected with a young man half-a-world away to get the real story of his experience as a French college student.
No, he is asleep 40 minutes away in the quiet suburb in which his family makes their home. It's a school night.
It is easy to get carried away thinking about living in one of the world's most glamorous cities. Fanciful notions about Paris and its citizens abound in the American imagination. My writing partner and I connected with a young man half-a-world away to get the real story of his experience as a French college student.
How far away is Université Paris Nanterre and Sacha Casset? Google Earth shows us graphically in the video below.
We first met Sacha Casset by exchanging text messages on WhatsApp. After a few false starts, due to his full academic schedule and distant timezone, we scheduled a few video chats to get acquainted and learn more about life at Université Paris Nanterre. Sacha is studying intercultural and international management, so he is well equipped to communicate in English. His English fluency is fortunate for us, as we exhausted the full extent of our French with an introductory "bonjour."
Sacha has a surprisingly calm and mature manner for a 22-year-old. "I believe that being surrounded by the other graduate students has helped me mature," he told us politely. Born and raised in Paris, Sacha has spent his life up to this point in the French education system. " I chose to take the most challenging academic path in high school, which included a lot of science and math," he told us. He explained to us that in France, the chosen high school curriculum sets the future trajectory of one's education. The combination of his rigorous preparation and his impressive language skills likely qualify him for acceptance at selective institutions of higher learning in any country. He chose Université Paris Nanterre, a prestigious university in Paris.
Any expectations of an exciting cosmopolitan lifestyle got humbly waved away. "I live with my parents in a residential part of town," he confessed. Even though international mystery does not dominate his life, many other things do. He starts his day with a 40-minute train commute and then attends lectures lasting from about 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. He also has an internship as the editor of a website and is forming his own Esports team.
We jokingly accused Sacha of having more hours in a day than we did. He does a million and one things in a 24-hour day. From his studies to his Esports team, his life seemed to be non-stop work until he mentioned having dinner with his family every night. Every night? How was this possible? Who has time for family dinners anymore?
Sacha has a surprisingly calm and mature manner for a 22-year-old. "I believe that being surrounded by the other graduate students has helped me mature," he told us politely. Born and raised in Paris, Sacha has spent his life up to this point in the French education system. " I chose to take the most challenging academic path in high school, which included a lot of science and math," he told us. He explained to us that in France, the chosen high school curriculum sets the future trajectory of one's education. The combination of his rigorous preparation and his impressive language skills likely qualify him for acceptance at selective institutions of higher learning in any country. He chose Université Paris Nanterre, a prestigious university in Paris.
Any expectations of an exciting cosmopolitan lifestyle got humbly waved away. "I live with my parents in a residential part of town," he confessed. Even though international mystery does not dominate his life, many other things do. He starts his day with a 40-minute train commute and then attends lectures lasting from about 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. He also has an internship as the editor of a website and is forming his own Esports team.
We jokingly accused Sacha of having more hours in a day than we did. He does a million and one things in a 24-hour day. From his studies to his Esports team, his life seemed to be non-stop work until he mentioned having dinner with his family every night. Every night? How was this possible? Who has time for family dinners anymore?
Most Americans would agree that sitting down to meals with family every night is charming, but unfortunately beyond our reach. We wanted to know how Sacha had time to focus on both his personal life and his family in the way that he did. The answer was quite simple. He avoided the very distractions we exploitatively hinted at in the opening to this story. "I rarely go out to clubs or bars," he elaborated. "I'll only drink maybe one glass of wine." So it was not what he was doing, but what he was not doing that allowed him to make the most of his limited time.
Interestingly, one of his inspirations for his temperate lifestyle turned out to be distinctly American. Sacha is, surprisingly, a fan of World Wrestling Entertainment. Yeah, you heard that right. He credits CM Punk's straight-edge philosophy for reinforcing his desire to stay away from the world of hard-drinking and drugs. "When you are a French person learning English, watching wrestling counts as studying," he joked. He continued, "Wrestling became trendy for a while in France, that is when I started watching it. It is no longer trendy, but I still enjoy it." Sacha's willingness to learn from diverse facets of other cultures is commendable. This personal quality must be part of what drew him to the field of intercultural studies.
Interestingly, one of his inspirations for his temperate lifestyle turned out to be distinctly American. Sacha is, surprisingly, a fan of World Wrestling Entertainment. Yeah, you heard that right. He credits CM Punk's straight-edge philosophy for reinforcing his desire to stay away from the world of hard-drinking and drugs. "When you are a French person learning English, watching wrestling counts as studying," he joked. He continued, "Wrestling became trendy for a while in France, that is when I started watching it. It is no longer trendy, but I still enjoy it." Sacha's willingness to learn from diverse facets of other cultures is commendable. This personal quality must be part of what drew him to the field of intercultural studies.
It is easy to judge a book by its cover, but there is always more to the story. Sacha's enthusiasm for answering our many questions replaced the two-dimensional image of a French college student with a multi-dimensional and contextually full picture. From his love of J.R.R Tolkien to his collection of "Star Wars" novels, there was a lot more going on than one could spot from a shallow glance.
The massive span of the ocean and the thousands of miles separating us can make it hard to realize, but people everywhere have similar dreams and priorities. The superficialities of life may get the most attention, but in the end, human beings everywhere have more in common than we even realize. By being himself, Sacha dispelled our silly preconceived notions about life as a student in Paris. A different language and culture may influence elements of the lifestyle, but the most important things are no different from those of a college student anywhere in the world. Family, hard work and making the right choices are the keys to a successful and rewarding educational experience no matter which half of the planet one lives on.
Special thanks to Sacha Casset, who did not consent to us photoshopping his head onto CM Punk's body, by the way...
The massive span of the ocean and the thousands of miles separating us can make it hard to realize, but people everywhere have similar dreams and priorities. The superficialities of life may get the most attention, but in the end, human beings everywhere have more in common than we even realize. By being himself, Sacha dispelled our silly preconceived notions about life as a student in Paris. A different language and culture may influence elements of the lifestyle, but the most important things are no different from those of a college student anywhere in the world. Family, hard work and making the right choices are the keys to a successful and rewarding educational experience no matter which half of the planet one lives on.
Special thanks to Sacha Casset, who did not consent to us photoshopping his head onto CM Punk's body, by the way...