ACIS Student Spotlight: Catherine H.

Catherine traveled on La Fête Française itinerary with ACIS Tours in February 2025. Learn more about her educational travel experience.

Tell us a little about yourself! Where do you go to school? What are your interests? 

I’m Catherine and I’m a junior at Evergreen Valley High. I love to read (Suzanne Collins, R.F Kuang and Maggie Stiefvater are some of my favourite writers), cook, and travel. I also love to watch TV and take photos, when I have time or an interesting occasion. At school, I’ve been taking French classes since freshman year, and it’s taught me a lot, and also connected me to some of my closest friends. 

What made you want to sign up for the trip? 

I’ve been interested in this trip since my French teacher first brought up the topic my freshman year. She mentioned the sights, the culture, and the fun, and that was enough for me, but I was truly hooked when I learned about the art lesson in Montmartre and a tour through a perfume factory outside Monaco. 

Looking back, what were your favorite or most memorable parts of your experience? 

We took a night boat ride on the Seine, and it was cold beyond belief, but I spent the ride Facetiming family and friends to show them the Eiffel Tower all lit-up and the Notre Dame when we passed that, no longer under construction, and I found it to be a really memorable and fun night. I was kind of sick and really tired that day too, so it really cheered me up and encouraged me to appreciate Paris at night more. 

Any fun stories from the trip to share? 

In Nice, our group passed a cute dessert shop with what seemed like huge macarons, and it piqued my interest, but since we were all walking together I couldn’t do anything about it. We got free time, and some of my friends and I went up to explore a nearby waterfall, and after returning back to ocean level we hunted for that shop, and found the treats. As it turns out, they weren’t macarons but ice cream between two abnormally large macaron cookies, and it was probably the best treat I’ve ever had. The interior of the store was pink, and the shopkeeper was so friendly, but the weather was beautiful so we took our ice cream and we sat on a fountain in front of the nearby church, and we spent a half hour chatting, eating our ice cream, and exploring the gorgeous church after we finished it. 

Did this trip change your perspective on the world, and if so, how? 

I like to consider myself a seasoned traveler, but what gets me everytime I visit an iconic monument is how blasé the locals seem to feel about it. On our bus to our hotel in Paris, my group passed the Arc de Triomphe, and the driver hardly batted an eye, nor did any Parisians walking by, while my group — and particularly me — were absolutely fascinated. This beautiful monument which people cross oceans to stand in the presence of is so second nature to the inhabitants of this city that it astounds me and forces me to be more appreciative of the icons within my vicinity. 

What was the biggest challenge you faced? 

The biggest challenge I faced was probably trying to get enough sleep. My family and friends were all at home, 9 time zones away, and we only really communicated after dinner, so I usually stayed up late trying to tell them everything. Our days were really packed, and I had a huge math test to return to, so I didn’t really have any time to take a nap either. On the last night, we pulled an all-nighter because we had a 6AM flight back, and that kind of sums up my sleep schedule throughout this trip; I just wanted to take everything in, even the breeze through the window at night. But I slept the entire flight and layover and second flight back home, though, so it’s probably evened out now. 

Did you acquire any skills that might help you in the future? 

Besides practicing French, which will definitely come handy if I’m fortunate enough to travel a lot in the future, I learned a lot of self-reliance during this trip. As the only girl on my trip, I had a single room, and was responsible for getting myself places on time everyday, without any friends or classmates to remind me. We also had a lot of free time, and I learned how to manage my time trying to visit every place I wanted to see. 

Did that trip affect your interests or choices for what you hope to study when you get to college, and if so, how? 

I’d always figured I’d prioritize a college with affordable and varied study abroad programs, and this experience further cemented that opinion, because I just found it so cool that I was learning so much with my friends in a whole new country. I mean, my friends in the tour and I were learning about the construction of Nimes while exploring veering paths in the Pont du Gard, and we had to rush to finish a pizza I’d impulsive bought from the gift shop so we could get back onto our bus on time, and it’s those kinds of experiences that I’d like to have in college too, and the rest of my life as much as possible. I think I want to continue studying French, and maybe take some international relations or foreign policy classes. 

What message would you share with younger students who may or may not be considering pursuing traveling outside the US?

To younger students on the fence about pursuing international travel, whether it be due to concerns about people you’ll be grouped with, or the hectic schedule, or traveling without family for the first time, I’d like to encourage you to just take the risk. If you have the means, it’s always worth it — the world is wider than you could ever believe, and you might just have the best week of your life.