Figuring Out Audencia

Hello! I am David Johansson, a senior Business major studying in Nantes, France at the Audencia Nantes Ecole de Management. I am 19 years old and originally from Ferndale, Washington but now reside in Sammamish. I have always wanted to learn about new cultures and travel to another place where people do not have the same view of the world—so I decided to study abroad. Not only do I get to travel, which I love, but I also get to learn about a different culture and get other perspectives on world issues.

My first day in Nantes was interesting. I had no idea what to do, but that made it exciting. First, I went for a walk around the city. I was walking around for about two hours exploring the city and stumbled upon some pretty neat places. The first was Place Royal, a nice open area surrounded by shops and in the middle is a large fountain decorated with royal figures. But the real fun didn’t begin until the first day of school.

At the first day of school, I met many cool people. I had no idea that so many other exchange students lived in the same apartment building that I live in! The first day of school was quite interesting because many of the other exchange students were just as lost around town as I was. But the IC (International Connection) team welcomed us with open arms. The team is comprised of Audencia students who greet us on our first day and are a resource for us to use if we need help with something at school. They showed us around the school and also let us know about the school parties.

The schools here are very unique. The schedule is much different than UW; instead of choosing the classes based upon the time schedule, you choose a major and are assigned the appropriate classes, called “modules.” Classes are divided into three hour sessions, usually twice a day, for most of the week, except Thursdays. Schedules are updated every week or two—most of the time you do not know what classes you will have two weeks later. It is an interesting schedule, something I definitely had to get used to.