Class Year: 2022
Program: IAU, Aix en Provence
Email: masoncanonico@gmail.com
Hometown: Kailua, HI
Major/Minor: Health Sciences & Business
Campus Activities: I am on the Wrestling Team , SAE, and I participate in the French extracurricular program.
Favorite Experience: My favorite experience was during one of the 3 confinements I was stuck in. Police were driving around the cobblestone streets of Aix, just looking for someone with their mask down. Luckily, my school stayed in session because we were only 30 students. I had made friends with the Algerian school custodian who I spoke with almost every day, and he told me all about cooking l'agneau (lamb). So much so, that one day he invited over for dinner at his house. He picked me up in his little gray Citroën, and we drove into the countryside where he lived. Before dinner, I had mentioned that I had never played Petanque, and so we played a game with his neighbors. I met his whole family, and had a wonderful meal of couscous and lamb. We regaled into the early hours of the morning, drinking local Bordeaux Red Wine and eating Calisson.
New/Exciting Course Abroad: I loved learning about US policy from a different perspective, and my teacher and journalist Aboubakr Jamai was my favorite teacher, which whom I took both a French Colonialism class as well as a Media and Conflict class. Learning about just how much influence the US has, as well as living outside the home country is something I firmly believe all students should do.