“Cela a transformé ma vie” – science student spending a year in France thanks to a McCall MacBain International Fellowship

Forget Duolingo.

Tazeen Hemraj decided the best way to relearn French was to hit pause on her undergraduate degree and spend a year living, learning and working in France.

She fell in love with the language as a French immersion student in elementary school but had since forgotten most of what she’d learned.

She applied on a whim for a McCall MacBain International Fellowship during her second year as a McMaster University Integrated Science student. Launched in 2018, the year-long program is offered to undergrads at McMaster, McGill, Dalhousie and the University of Manitoba, along with current recipients of the MacBain Niagara Falls and McCall Huron County scholarships. The program helps globally-minded Canadian undergrads cultivate creativity, resilience, independence, critical thinking and stretch beyond their comfort zones. According to a 2018 Environics survey, just 11 per cent of Canadians between the ages of 18 and 24 study abroad, which ranks as one of the lowest rates among Western countries.

Tazeen filled out an application, went through two rounds of interviews and was offered a fellowship. When Tazeen broke the news to her parents, they didn’t initially share their daughter’s enthusiasm. “They were worried. At Mac, I’m an hour and a half from home. I’d never been to France, and I’d be gone for an entire year. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but I was choosing to struggle.”

The goodbye at the airport was a bit of a mess. Tazeen apologizes to everyone who had to get around her family’s group hug. “There were a lot of tears.” She says her parents have since come around. “They’re not checking in nearly as often. They’re excited for me.”

Tazeen arrived in September and spent the next four months taking full-time language classes at a school for international students in the heart of Paris. She billeted with a family and became the de facto big sister to three young children. “They thought I was so old.” Tazeen had dinner with the family every night – eating at 9 p.m. and then going to bed on a full stomach took some getting used to.

Two months into her stay, Tazeen signed on as a volunteer camp counsellor. She helped supervise a group of Parisian tweens and teens on a four-day whirlwind trip to Spain. Getting everyone through the ninth largest airport in the world and onto the plane was the first of many challenges.

The kids were told to never speak a word of English to Tazeen for the entire trip. “They were merciless when I mixed up my words and thought my Canadian accent was hilarious.”

But it was a great way to quickly learn French. “When a kid wanders into traffic, you don’t have time to think of how to translate ‘watch out and get back onto the sidewalk right now before you get run over’– you just shout it out.” Every camper made it safely home and an exhausted Tazeen slept the entire next day.

From January to April, Tazeen will study at Université Grenoble Alpes with a view that puts Hamilton Mountain to shame. It’s billed as Europe’s most innovative university – researchers have filed more than 3,340 patents over 20 years.  The majority of her courses will be taught in French. It’s a pass / fail system so that gives Tazeen some breathing room if lectures, labs and exams get lost in translation.

Before the fellowship, Tazeen would plan everything months in advance and down to the last detail. She’s since adopted the international exchange student motto – everything somehow always manages to work out. She waited until the last minute to snag a shoebox of a studio apartment that’s within walking distance to campus. “You just have to have faith that you’ll find a way.”

She’ll close out her fellowship with a paid internship at a biochemistry lab in Lyon. The offer came through just in time for the application deadline.

Tazeen returns to McMaster in September and will continue where she left off. She says graduating in five, rather than four, years is a small price to pay for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

She’s connected with all of the students in the McCall MacBain International Fellowship so she’s learning about the world through their adventures and experiences. Tazeen’s also met other international students– over the holidays she’s staying in Amsterdam with a friend she met while in Paris.

There were stretches where the City of Lights felt like a Fortress of Solitude. Tazeen’s come to appreciate knowing how to be alone – it’s something she never had to do at McMaster. “I did everything at Mac with a group of friends. I’ve figured out how to explore and make my way in the world on my own.” And there was no shortage of things to see and do – every street corner’s a postcard and most cultural attractions offer free admission to students.

Applications for the next round of McCall MacBain International Fellowships are open until Jan. 13. Tazeen encourages every science student to apply because the journey’s as important as the destination.

“As science students, we seem to think that we have to follow a prescribed path that leads directly from our undergrad degrees into medical school or graduate school. But I can’t stress enough the value of studying abroad and gaining a global perspective. Cela a transformé ma vie – it’s transformed my life.”