It will be an unforgettable semester for the Diablo Valley College students who have decided to study abroad in Paris, France this fall.

As most students fall into routine schedules during their first month back to school, some are packing their bags as they prepare to embark on a once-in-lifetime trip to Paris.

Why take this program? According to DVC professor Kristen Koblik, who will be teaching in Paris this semester, the study abroad program offers a rare opportunity for community college students to travel to a foreign country for a unique learning experience.

“Only 4 percent of American study abroad students are from community colleges, so it’s special to have a chance to participate in a program like this while at DVC,” Koblik said.

Koblik discussed her interactive lesson plans for the upcoming months.  “(We will be) going to cathedrals and castles and enormous museums and galleries …and studios where the artists lived and worked,” she said.

Koblik is thrilled to show her students the art they study in person.

DVC student Quinn Thornton first became interested in the study abroad program while taking one of Koblik’s classes. “My teacher first mentioned (the Paris trip) to me,” Thornton said. After her parents agreed to help pay for schooling it was only a matter of time before she had saved up the extra cash she would need for the trip, and enough for a side trip to Normandy.

When asked what she was excited for, Thornton listed the museums she would get to go to, the shows she would get to see, and the great food plan.

There’s another great adventure in Barcelona, Spain next fall. “Plan early, get all the information you can,” said director of international education programs, Aleks Ilich. “The experience… will shape each student individually.”