Otsego Abroad
Cooperstown Resident Returns from Six Years in France
By WRILEY NELSON
STRASBOURG, FRANCE
Mae Loewenguth of Cooperstown graduated from the Institut Européen de Journalisme with a bachelor’s degree in journalism in April. In spite of a distinct lack of support from xenophobic professors, Loewenguth got through the prestigious institute with flying colors while immersing herself in one of Europe’s most culturally significant cities.
Loewenguth has spent six of the last seven years in France. She spent her junior year away from Cooperstown Central School on Rotary exchange.
“I loved my time there,” she said. “When I got back for senior year, I wasn’t sure about college. I didn’t have any strong ideas about where I wanted to go or what I wanted to study. I wound up literally Googling ‘how to live in France for free,’ and it said to look into being an au pair.”
She wound up spending a year looking after the young sons of two leading French journalists. The boys’ mother, whom Loewenguth left unnamed, is a well-known TV meteorologist, while their father hosts a radio show. Loewenguth spoke highly of the family and of the cultural institution of the au pair position, which allowed her to explore much of the country with the family while she earned a living caring for the children.
“I got to see a lot of their work as journalists and I got to meet many ordinary people around the country,” she recalled. “I realized I liked listening to people’s stories.”
The parents helped point her in the direction of France’s many journalism schools.
Loewenguth wound up applying to the prestigious IEJ in Strasbourg, a city of about 300,000 just across the Rhine River from Germany. Strasbourg is a historic melting pot of cultural interaction and political strife between the French-speaking and German-speaking parts of Europe stretching back to the early Middle Ages. It was a major node of peaceful interaction between Catholics and Protestants after the Reformation and passed back and forth between German and French control four times between the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 and the end of World War II. Today, Strasbourg is a major university town with key engineering, manufacturing and transportation sectors. It remains an important site of intercultural dialogue, hosting a large German-speaking population, the headquarters of the European Parliament and the largest Islamic place of worship in France.
The Institut put Loewenguth through an in-person test on general knowledge of French history and modern politics. The director sat with her for an interview and explicitly said that the IEJ had no experience with “exchange students” and did not really know what to do with her. It was the beginning of a somewhat testy relationship with the Institut; many professors were rude or dismissive to the American interloper, and a few even mocked her accent in class. Loewenguth repeatedly expressed her gratitude to friends and classmates who stood up for her and provided a strong support system.
“They helped me succeed in every way,” she said.
Despite the occasional run-ins with xenophobic professors and administrators, Loewenguth greatly enjoyed her studies and her life in the city.
“I found a roommate on Facebook and an incredible 60 square-meter [about 650 square feet] apartment. It was a 10-minute bike ride from my classes and I could ride or walk to anywhere else I needed to go within a few minutes,” she said. Loewenguth typically spent four to eight hours a day at school, then worked at a tea shop until 1 a.m. She enjoyed the bustle and convenience of a highly walkable city with a young, diverse population.
“It’s very different from Paris,” she recalled. “There is a lot of cross-class mixing. Everyone in Paris looks like they have money, or like they’re trying to look like they have money. In Strasbourg, people are more genuine, they seem a lot more absorbed in living their own lives and they’re more interested in the lives of others. There were a ton of great food options, too, anything you can imagine.”
All in all, the experience was life-changing.
“It helped me be more ok with not being ok,” Loewenguth said. “I got some pushback from a lot of the teachers and I learned that I could handle it. Going back further to my Rotary and au pair experiences, learning the language made me feel accomplished. It all helped me find myself.”
Otsego County residents have had life-changing adventures abroad. Travel changes people for the better, and stories of travel can inspire local communities to engage more fully with the world around them. If you have a story of work, study, or exploration overseas, contact News Editor Wriley Nelson at NewsDesk@allotsego.com to bring your story home.