Sarah Riggs

My name is Sarah, and once when I was in Paris, I almost got mugged.

It was 11:30 pm. The cobblestone streets were gleaming from the day’s rain, and the breeze from the river swept away the groggy heat from the streets. I was with a group of friends during my study abroad trip, sitting along a bridge near the Notre Dame. Everything seemed like a fairytale. Until a large group of young men appeared around the corner, heading straight towards us. Immediately, the aura of the night changed. One man asked if any of us had a light, and when we said no, things started to heat up. As one man stood with his face centimeters from my friend’s, his hat rim touching his forehead, I quickly moved to defend my panicking friend behind me, keeping my eyes sternly fixed on the potential threat in front of me. They demanded that we give them money. Luckily, we were all able to turn them away before things got out of hand.

But this served as a good message to me about life. Unexpected and scary things will always occur and there is no way you can fully prepare yourself for the things life throws at you. However, you can’t let small setbacks destroy your entire outlook. I have always been an optimist and have found time and time again that things always work out in the end.

Rather than letting this encounter ruin my judgment on France, or even my time in Europe, I remember Europe as the place that gave me endless sleepless days staying up late with friends, aching legs from walking around and exploring the most beautiful places I have ever seen, and moments of pure joy and awe when I laid my eyes on forgotten Roman settlements tilling with history.

It was a bad moment, not a bad trip. You may have setbacks in life, but life is good.