Two years ago I packed my bags and headed to the airport. It was my second time abroad and my first time flying alone. 8 hours and 2 flights later I landed in Marseille and met with fellow SCAD students to start our 10-week long French adventure in SCAD Lacoste.
This was just before the pandemic. Before quarantine and masks. Before lockdown.
I remember some of our students returning from Italy and being quarantined in another section of the small campus. Two weeks after I returned, the United States closed their borders. But let’s rewind…
The day I arrived in Lacoste was sunny but cold. Waiting around in the Marseille Airport felt like an eternity, and I couldn’t find a working outlet to charge my phone ANYWHERE. When we finally arrived in Lacoste 1 hour away, I trekked up medieval cobblestone steps to my new home for the next 2 months: Pitot 5.
I could see Marquis de Sade’s chateau from my window! I spent many nights in the Pitot lounge, eating cold m&m’s and doing homework.
My favorite excursion was to Lyon. In Place Bellacour I went on the Ferris wheel, which became inspiration for my storyboarding project for class. This project was where I fell in love with storyboarding, and I’m so grateful for that.
I also attended Angoulême International Comics Festival and saw Robert Kirkman, a co-creator of The Walking Dead. There are so many memories from those pre-pandemic days. If I had a time machine I would go back and tell myself to make the most of it because the world was about to change forever.
But for now, I look back on the videos and art I made, and wonder where the future will take me.