A study abroad experience 12 years in the making came to fruition this summer as eleven students from Southwestern University spent four weeks in Paris, France to study sport, physiology, and culture during the Summer Olympic Games.

The trip was constructed and led by Associate Professor of Kinesiology Ed Merritt, who first came up with the idea while attending the Summer Olympic Games in London in 2012. With two young kids at home in 2016, the Olympic Games in Rio weren’t a possibility, then the COVID-19 pandemic shut down any hope of leading a study abroad experience in Tokyo in 2020.

“I knew that if it couldn’t work in Paris, then it couldn’t work anywhere,” Merritt said. “Paris is already set up for study abroad. It’s one of the most visited study abroad cities. We had this unique stage and environment to base a course off of that was relevant to my students and also really interesting for a lot of people.”

In Paris, Merritt taught his course Paris 2024 Olympics: Understanding the Interaction of Physiology & Culture with Sport. One of the goals of the class was to examine the wider cultural aspects surrounding a variety of Olympic sports. The group investigated issues like barriers to entry for certain sports, how athletes differ across sports – athletically, racially, ethnically, and culturally – and why athletes from the United States excel in the sports that they do.

“It was a really interesting class,” kinesiology major Kaitlyn Rzasniciki ’26 said. “Dr. Merritt did a really good job pairing together the physiology and anatomy part of being at the Olympics with the culture behind what makes the Olympics so important and the history behind why the Olympics exist.”

One of the clear benefits of teaching this type of course in the shadow of the Olympic Games was being able to apply physiological concepts learned in the classroom to some of the best athletes in the world competing on the global stage, something the group got to experience in bunches.

Business and kinesiology double major Ben Greengold ’26 attended a variety of events during his time in Paris, including beach volleyball, cycling, golf, marathon, rugby, and triathlon.

“We did a lot of studying the anatomy and physiology of these Olympic athletes,” Greengold said. “That was really interesting because when we went to the events, we could really tell why these athletes are the best in the world, just from being there and seeing the athletes’ structures and muscle compositions.”

One of the ways that the students blended sport and culture was through the race walk event, a foot race that dates back to the 1904 Olympic Games in which athletes must keep one foot in contact with the ground at all times.

“The type of training that race walkers do and that marathon runners do is remarkably similar, yet very different in some crucial areas,” Merritt said. “The marathon is really well accepted around the world, but race walk isn’t. I’ve always wanted to have a place where you can really talk about those types of things.”

As part of the course, Merritt instructed his students to strike up conversations with fellow fans to learn more about the cultural reasons why they were attending certain events. The group shared those conversations with the class, along with their own personal perspectives on a wide variety of issues and topics within sport. That experience was particularly impactful for kinesiology major Breanna Steele ’26.

“I have always valued perspective and I am always searching out ways to see new perspectives and understand things from different points of view,” she said. “As much as being in a different city in a different country did that, being with our group that went to Paris and hearing their perspectives was really valuable for me.”

The experience also served to reinforce one of Merritt’s core beliefs about Southwestern.

“The thing that I like about Southwestern is that you get students who are open minded enough to be able to do that, and who are willing to be open to the experience,” he said. “I think Southwestern has created a culture where you can express your opinion, be respectful, be mindful, and have a discussion about it. We got a lot of that.”

Outside of the classroom, Merritt intentionally left the schedule somewhat open to encourage the students to explore all that Paris has to offer – from food and art to sightseeing and outdoor activities. Collectively, the group attended cooking classes, participated in nature hikes, visited museums, and ate in some of Paris’ best restaurants.

“I think it was valuable for us as a group to have a little bit of chaos,” Steele said. “It brought us all together to work to figure out what we wanted to do. Once we got the handle of the metro and directions, we started to kind of do our own thing. But especially at the beginning, we all spent so much time together because we had each other and that was it.”

The group arrived in Paris on July 14, nearly two weeks before the Opening Ceremony, a move that strategically allowed the group to explore the city before the Olympic Games began.

“Being there for four weeks, it felt more like you were living there instead of just being on vacation,” Greengold said. “It allowed us to be more indulged in the culture and see what it’s like living there on an everyday basis. With the metro system, it was easy to get anywhere. There was so much to do and so many places to go. It was really fun to explore. I had a fantastic time.”

Across their journey, the group witnessed first-hand just how much Paris embraced its role as the host of the Olympic Games. Some of the most iconic landmarks across the City of Lights were decked out in their own unique ways to support the Games.

“All of the cultural sites in Paris had Olympic displays, from the Louvre, to the Musee de Orse, to the Pantheon,” Merritt said. “We got to see things like how the most famous art museum in the world handles an Olympic Games. That was interesting because you got to see that perspective from a lot of different places.”

The overall experience was a blessing for Rzasnicki, who is also a student-athlete on the women’s basketball team at Southwestern.

“Coming to college, I knew that I wanted to study abroad, but as an athlete, basketball falls across both semesters, so I wasn’t sure if it was ever going to be possible,” she said. “I was a first-year when I found out about the trip and I signed up immediately after I heard about it. It was everything that I expected it to be.”

Rzasnicki got to attend the USA vs Australia women’s basketball semifinal game from Bercy Arena in downtown Paris, a surreal experience for the lifelong basketball player.

“It was so cool. I grew up watching all of those women play in the WNBA and in college,” she said. “I literally got to the arena an hour early because I wanted to get the whole experience. It was a dream come true.”

As a member of Southwestern’s track and field team, Steele had a similar experience. Like Rzasnicki, not only did the summer schedule for this study abroad experience allow Steele to attend without impacting her athletic season, but she also got to watch some of the best athletes in her sport compete.

“Gratitude was the biggest feeling that I had when I was there,” Steele said. “I love sports, and I’ve always been into running, so I spent a lot of time at the track and field events. I was just so grateful to be there. It was such an awesome experience to be in a place that I usually only hear and see about.”

Steele attended six different sessions of track and field, including the women’s 800 meter finals – an event that she competes in for the Pirates. Witnessing the best athletes in her sport compete was an experience that she plans to bring back with her to the upcoming season.

“I’ve been working hard in my own athletic career, so being able to sit with the people that I look up to so much and see them compete at the highest level made me on fire for my own season,” she said. “It was cool to be able to see the way that all these people that I look up to carried themselves. I would love to be able to reciprocate that in my own way in my athletic career.”

Greengold also left Paris with a new perspective, and a new desire to continue to explore the world.

“Studying abroad was one thing, but during the Olympics was just incredible,” he said. “I never pictured doing this when I came to Southwestern. Everywhere in the world, people live in different ways. It’s really cool to indulge yourself into that and see that firsthand. Having a grasp and understanding of that has really made me want to explore the world and see new countries and cultures.”

Merritt is already looking forward to the potential of building a trip for the Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028, especially after the takeaways that each of his students left Paris with.

“It makes it so much more impactful when you have something that can make somebody laugh, or make somebody feel good while they’re learning,” he said. “In this situation, you couldn’t get away from the excitement.”