Twenty Seconds of Courage: Embracing Opportunity and Overcoming Self-Doubt in Cannes

When I was eight years old, I saw a movie called We Bought A Zoo in the theatre. It is loosely based on the story of Benjamin Mee and his family who purchased a zoo following the loss of his wife. There is a scene where Mee sits with his son, Dylan, and they discuss working up the courage to speak to a girl. “You know, sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage,” Mee said. “Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.”  

That quote so struck my little 8-year-old body that here I am, thirteen years later, sharing it on a study abroad blog. But the truth is, studying abroad is a constant loop of twenty seconds of courage. Submitting the scholarship essays, applying for the passport, packing outfits to correlate with each day of activities, and that’s all before you leave the United States. Once arriving in France, there’s the language barrier, adapting to a new culture, the time change, and meeting new people, who only occasionally speak English. 

The first week of my study abroad trip was spent in Paris with classmates and professors, where I grew comfortable within our tight-knit group. The second week, however, was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. We took a train to the south of France to a city called Cannes, best known as the host of the Cannes Film Festival. In the Ad World, however, Cannes is known as the home of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, a five-day conference that showcases the work of the creative communications and advertising fields. For students, it is an opportunity to learn from the greats firsthand while networking with top industry leaders. The week is fast-paced, inspiring, and frankly, intimidating.  

The festival connects the field’s leading professionals from all over the globe to acknowledge and celebrate groundbreaking work. I rubbed elbows with innovators and trailblazers such as Judy John, the Global Chief Creative Officer at Edelman, and heard original adman and founder of RSCG Jacques Séguéla speak about his overarching career.  

While experiencing this greatness, it was hard not to get lost in self-consciousness and doubt. I had the common “What am I doing here?” thoughts of imposter syndrome, but I was also comparing myself to my classmates, students from other universities, and the professionals we were learning from. I wondered if my clothes looked good enough, if I was acting professional enough, and if I was doing enough to compete with my classmates.  

This stream of consciousness became exhausting fast, and I realized that I had to do something about this before it ruined my week here in the south of France at a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I decided that my clothes were “me” and things I felt good in. I had picked them out confidently, so I chose to feel confident in them. I reminded myself that just being here and soaking in all that these industry leaders were pouring into me was inspiration enough; I didn’t need to find an amazing job for post-grad in London or New York City. In some situations, I am a believer in the “what will be will be” mentality, and I applied it here as well as I could. I had to work at it and shut down a lot of thoughts that could have been self-sabotaging, but in the end, it was so worth it to me to shut down those thoughts to realize just how lucky I was to be in such a unique opportunity.