When choosing what university to attend, the deciding factor for Jack Weyhrich was the study abroad opportunities available at Michigan State University. Weyhrich, now a second-year student with senior status and a dual major in French and Economics, spent this past summer in Paris doing an internship abroad.

He worked with MSU’s Office of Study Abroad (OSA) to find a program that combined his two areas of study into one internship. Together OSA and Weyhrich discovered Finance Innovation, a company in the heart of the Financial District of Paris that assists finance- and technology-based startups.

“I wanted to have an internship because I hadn’t had one before, and I wanted to go abroad and use my French. I ended up doing both, so it really met my two biggest needs perfectly,” Weyhrich said. “It’s nice that there’s a broad range of opportunities available for people with different situations and different goals.”

My internship really opened my eyes to another culture, and that was very valuable for me.

To help pay for the trip, Weyhrich received the John W. Eadie Scholarship and an Office of Study Abroad scholarship. Together, the two scholarships made his Paris internship possible.

“The scholarships were very generous and extremely helpful,” he said. “Food in Paris is expensive, and living there is expensive, too, so these scholarships made it feasible for me to have this experience. I am very grateful for them.”

During his internship, Weyhrich worked on improving his French conversational skills, including translating documents and giving presentations. In his free time, he explored the food of Paris and even enjoyed a Bastille Day celebration at the Eiffel Tower. 

“I learned so much about the culture and working style of the French,” he said. “I lived in an apartment in the city and commuted by train to work every day, so I was completely immersed in the French language. My internship really opened my eyes to another culture, and that was very valuable for me.”

In the future, Weyhrich would either like to pursue a graduate degree or enter the workforce. In either case, living abroad and using his French language skills are a high priority.

“I absolutely love Paris; it is my favorite place on the planet,” Weyhrich said.  “I have really fond memories of being there, and I have a background now that would make it more feasible for me to move there. I would definitely like to keep living in Paris as an option.”

Written by Alexandria Drzazgowski, Professional Writing Major