Alumni Memories from Strasbourg, France

In December 2022, I set out to write about Junior Year in Strasbourg for the upcoming Hood Magazine issue. As an undergrad I studied abroad myself, in London, for one unforgettable semester. I experienced first-hand the life-changing growth that comes from immersion in another country, but my program did not challenge me with language. What was it like living and learning by speaking and thinking in a different language every day? How was it to learn your proficiency in a non-native language, graded highly in the classroom, was not as proficient as you thought? 

Through research, I gained valuable insight into the Strasbourg program and how it ran over the years – and frankly, there was too much good material for the one-page article in print. My print article discusses a critical point in history for the program while this online article attempts to offer a glimpse back at Junior Year in Strasbourg - for alumni of the program, and in hopes of enticing current Hood students to take advantage of study-abroad opportunities. 

When applying for Junior Year in Strasbourg, Hood students knew they would miss major Hood milestones: the Ring Dinner, Big Sis/Lil’ Sis, the Dads & Daughters Weekend, May Madness, Policies for Dollars, and more. Strasbourg students came back and sought to ensure younger classmates that missing these campus activities was well worth it. Raving articles appeared in the Blue & Grey regularly from 1968 through the early 1970s about the study abroad program. A popular refrain in these stories was how to fully express how much the program meant to Strasbourg students.  

The study abroad students In earlier years crossed over by ocean liner or plane. Denise Swan ‘77 pointed out that crossing by boat gave her the opportunity to bond with other students and the program director for five full days. She felt sorry for the students that flew as they arrived exhausted, less informed, and less connected than those who spent time getting to know each other aboard ship. Siobhan Clifford Derrickson (Class of 1988, Boston College) experienced it differently, having flown: “it seemed as if I landed in a fairytale city”.  

Upon arriving, students stayed several days in Paris and then traveled to Strasbourg, a medieval city only a 15-minute bus ride to Germany. One student remarked that what stands out about the first week in Strasbourg is how bad her French actually was. They spent the first several weeks in “Stage,” an intensive language learning program. Stage results determined the level of classes each student would take at the University of Strasbourg (Palais Universitaire Strasbourg), and by October they were immersed in the university’s classes as regular students. 

Hood’s Residential Director helped the students secure housing as the program did not own or manage a student housing building. Students found housing in apartments or with host families. Kara Reinsel ‘97 lived in an “all-female dorm (run by nuns!) with mostly French and International students”. This dorm held about 100 students, of which only 10 or so were American. Barbara Pepi ‘70 lived in a room rented by a widow and ate her meals with French students in the student restaurants. Another student, Elizabeth Atalay (Class of 1988, Bowdoin College) lived in a French home in Le Robertsau, a forested district outside the city center, along the Rhine River. To get to class, she walked past the beautiful Parc de l’Orangerie (a 65-acre oasis within the city, akin to Hyde Park in London) every day.  

For years, the program paired students with French families for regular home-cooked dinners. This practice helped immerse the students in the Alsatian culture, especially those who lived in apartments or dorm-like environments. One family, the Straehlis, was particularly beloved by their students. Kara Reinsel ‘97 recalls them below:  

“My “French family,” the Straehlis, knew that I loved chocolate mousse. And my French mom, Christine, was an amazing cook. So, for my birthday, they had me over for dinner and, rather than serving cake, Christine made me a GIANT bowl of chocolate mousse. It was amazing! Honestly, some of my best memories were having dinner each week with the Straehlis. Strasbourg winters are dark and cold, and I can still remember sitting in their warm kitchen, speaking French, laughing, and just being a part of their family.” 

Siobahn Clifford still uses the salad dressing recipe she learned from Christine Straehli, and remarked that the Straehli family “truly adopted me and all the other Hood students into their family” 

Students fondly recall their time overseas in myriad ways. Doug Pittsnogle ‘96 loved everyday activities, like trips to the SuMa grocery store and taking the local transit bus. Having grown up in Hagerstown, MD, he felt deeply the ability to expand his living and experience life in Europe as a gay man who fell in love with an older French man of the arts. Kara Reinsel ‘97 loved the Christmas market most about Strasbourg. 

Many students were struck by the time French Europeans reserved for discussion. “Students spend hours sitting in cafes discussing various topics and listening to friends,” noted Barbara Pepi ‘70. Janice Conrad ‘70 stated that “Strasbourg offered me something which I can never find in the states – time to listen and converse freely, to get to know the fellow next to me.” Denise Swan ‘78 noted “the cafes are always jammed – we have our favorite places where we can go each weekend to see our friends, French and American”, and another student remembered discussions about American politics about which the French were very aware. 

While French university education was no doubt beneficial, personal growth was and is the most profound education for study abroad students. Strasbourg alumni emphasized how living in another country and immersing oneself in another language taught them strength, resiliency, confidence, and compassion. Strasbourg alumni say it best: 

• "That experience "saved" me in a certain sense. I had been very shy and afraid to leave Hagerstown...Hood and the Strasbourg program totally turned me around," Doug Pittsnogle ‘96. 

• “It is truly a life-changing gift to be able to be immersed in another country for a year,” Siobhan Clifford Derrickson ‘88 (Boston College) 

• “I loved all of Strasbourg and have been back at least five times as I now live in France,” Natalie Rivers ‘85 

• "Someone once told me that as the years pass, the year I spent in Strasbourg would stand apart.. Becoming an increasingly special slice of my life. That has certainly proved true," Marietta Geckos ‘84 

• “...I made the best friends of my life there. It was a friendship forged in, not quite “fire” because it was a pretty nice life there, but the circumstances of adjusting to a new place, language, and culture were enough that we all bonded really tightly,” Elizabeth Atalay ‘88 (Bowdoin College)