“Study abroad is the single most effective way of changing the way we view the world”

Today, we are discovering the story of Lucas, who is one of our Bachelor 3 students, currently doing a semester in the university of PACE in New York City.

Deciding to study abroad

I am someone who loves to travel, discovering new places, new cultures. When I graduated with my Baccalaureate, I was looking at different business schools, and what I loved about AMOS is its International Program, it has been the deciding factor in joining the school. Sport is such an international field, anywhere you will go, people will practice sports, but the way they live it, and the way events are being organized differs from one culture/country to another, which is why I think it is crucial not only for me but for any sport’s student to travel and see these differences.

When it comes to choosing a foreign university to go to, AMOS is providing us with some great choices, the list of partnered universities is endless, it took me days to go through it. I had first selected a few destinations that I liked (the US and Australia), then I had a look into the different programs, and that is where PACE New York caught my attention. Their Sports Marketing class is one of the best in the country, just something I couldn’t pass on. On top of that, sport is such a lifestyle in the US, and it is so developed within the universities, the infrastructure that students are using are like the one’s professional’s use. Some of the university football stadiums can fit up to 100 000 people, that is unreal!

NYC campus

The Pace Campus is totally different from anything that I have seen in France. Everything is massive over here. First thing, the location. The campus is in Manhattan, in front of the Brooklyn bridge, surrounded by small parks and huge buildings. With such great infrastructures, students almost live on their campus, even outside of classes they like to spend time in there. The campus is open 24h a day, 7 days a week. Everything, over here, is done for the students to get the most out of their studies. All these assets just give an extra motivation to the student to learn more, practice sports (Volleyball in my case) and extend their student’ network.

Regarding the classes, the learning methods are a bit different over here. The teachers are requiring a lot of interaction, we are constantly working within groups as well as doing presentations. This is great because it develops some skills such as Team Working and Communication which will be much needed when we will be looking for a job.

Exploring the city

New York New York! What to say about it, I have been here for the past 3 months, and I have not seen half of what needs to be. The city is just amazing, the buildings, the parks, the river and on top of that, the number of sports events organized in the Big Apple is next level. I went to see the US Open in the Queens, last September, a Baseball game of the Mets last month, on the 30th of November I have my ticket for an NBA game in Brooklyn to see the Knicks and hopefully in December, before going back home, I will have the opportunity to see an NFL game. Aside from New York, I have had the chance to visit Philadelphia as well, which is 90 minutes by bus from New York. A very charismatic city with a lot of history (not only the Rocky one).

Moving forwards

Doing this semester abroad in New York City has comforted my will to study and live abroad. I am already starting to evaluate different possibilities for my master’s degree, and I think
that London as a Master 1 would be of great value to me. Concerning the Master 2, I still have time, but I am thinking of exploring a country where I have never been.

Originally, I wanted to work in the Sport’s Event sector, that is the reason why I have chosen AMOS, but the more I think about it, the more communication and marketing seem like
things I enjoy doing. So, I am keeping my mind open for the next couple of years, who knows, maybe I will discover something else.

Advice to future students

If I have one tip to give to new AMOS students, it is to go and travel as much as they can. I am so glad I took the decision to come study over here. Living abroad will teach you many different things, on different aspects of your life, professionally and personally. If you have that opportunity too, GO FOR IT!