Caitlin McMullen

While most junior year abroad programs are arranged through Deerfield, every once in while a very different experience comes along. Such was the case with Brittany List's '01's junior year, which was spent in Europe.

She had just settled into her new dormitory, John Louis, when her modeling agent presented her with a unique opportunity to further her career at some of the foremost centers of fashion in the world. She had just three days to make an extraordinarily difficult decision. Following her career to Europe meant not only leaving her friends and what had become her home away from home, but withdrawing from Deerfield as a student and having to reapply to the class of 2001 the following year.

In the end, it was a risk she decided to take. "I didn't want to be up late one night my junior year, wondering if I had missed the opportunity of a lifetime," List said. "I had done a year of home-study once before in elementary school and I believed that spending a year in Europe could offer educational adventure as well as a wonderful professional experience."

So, List was bound for Milan, Italy. There, although she had intended to do mostly runway shows, she found herself doing more editorial/magazine work. An invitation to go to Paris, however, promised more shows, and the lure of French culture was too great to resist. In France, List could also make use of the French she learned during her previous time at Deerfield from French teacher, Claudia Lyons. For nearly six months, she spent her time immersed in the Parisian lifestyle and surrounded by French history. One of her first jobs in Paris turned out to be under the glass pyramid of the Louvre To keep up with her school work, List enrolled in the University of North Dakota Fargo Extension High School. While she couldn't exactly match the Deerfield junior year, she did manage to take some interesting courses. "Although it was thrilling to have available many of the paintings pictured in my art history textbook, I missed the engaging discussions of my Deerfield classes," List said. To her great surprise, she was even able to practice her dancing. When she modeled for a Japanese ballet outfitter, Chacott, she took a ballet class in French at the Academy of Dance in Paris.

A typical day for List in Paris ranged from working in studios to being on location sets to walking the runways. Other days, her agent, Marilyn, arranged appointments for her to meet photographers, magazines and designers. In her limited free time, List visited the numerous attractions Paris, France, has to offer. "The longer I lived in Paris, and the more I became immersed in its culture, the more I found myself taking pictures of things most tourists would never notice," she explained.

On the weekends, List tried to take some downtime to recover from her hectic double life as model/student. However, her agency often booked her for weekend shoots that required travelling outside of Paris. One such shoot brought her to Calais-Lille on the English Channel, where she could view the coastline of England. "Though at first I was disappointed I'd have to work on the weekends, these trips gave me a unique opportunity to experience different aspects of French culture." In addition to Italy and France, List's work took her to Germany, Austria and Great Britain.

"One of the hardest parts of living abroad for me was the lack of contact with the world I left," said List. In addition to a six-hour time difference which made calling home inconvenient, not to mention expensive, the complexities of a foreign internet also frustrated her in her attempts to keep in touch with friends and family. Her father came to visit a few times when he was working in London, only a two- hour train ride from Paris on the TGV, the French train system. In August, List and her mother spent some time vacationing in the south of France, taking in the sights while recovering from a very busy summer.

List hopes to continue modeling next summer before she heads off to college. "I know that I will always be able to take that experience with me into whatever I do, where ever I go. It was, for me, a great adventure."