Reflections on Mentonese Life With Former Student, Professor Ismail Hamoumi

Another year at Sciences Po Menton is ending. 2As are passing onto their next journey and 1As are taking on the responsibility of preserving the Mentonese student culture. The legacy of Soundproof, the campus party house, is being transferred to a new enthusiastic quadruplet, and many events, such as the collective chant-writing session, represent a modicum of traditions which are transmitted over generations of Sciences Pistes.

Reflecting upon the months since I moved to Menton, I grasped the profound impact our small French Riviera town had on me. I would have never pictured the extent to which this student community would be able to shape us when I first arrived. Situated in a quaint bay amongst sun-kissed houses, Sciences Po Menton is truly a peculiar place to spend two of the most impactful years of our lives. Many of us come here, leaving behind the safety of a familiar environment, to confront both the pleasure and pain of newfound liberty.

I was fortunate enough to discuss this strange Mentonese journey into adulthood with one of our very own alumni. Former-student-turned-1A-sociology-professor, Ismail Hamoumi has completed the full circle of the Menton experience and was kind enough to sit down with me to offer his reflections on the student life of his day.

The Menton experience could be described as both incredibly intense and influential — a microcosm of around 300 students from all over the world, sharing the same buildings, streets, and social spaces. This has an enormous impact on social relations. Privacy is much more limited, as perfectly exemplified by a 2A warning me not to gossip on Rue Longue in my first week here. Indeed, not much of anything remains private in Menton, as it is routine to run into a minimum of three other students each time you leave your home. Hamoumi emphasized the profound effect this leaves on our process of identity construction. Leaving home as inquisitive and malleable adolescents provides us with the liberty to experiment with new identities – ones that could potentially deviate from our familiar culture. Everything new we experience challenges our perception of self.

This is compounded by our numerous daily social interactions with a highly international community. Students leave Menton with a more stable sense of self, remarked Hamoumi. Our identities are only reinforced by the diversity of people and thoughts that can be found on our Menton campus.

But not everything has remained consistent. Menton has also witnessed some changes in the six years since Professor Hamoumi graduated. The student body has increased by a third. Many more associations now contribute to the blooming social scene and, to my suprise , even the vivacious nightlife, a pillar of the Menton culture, is a fairly new phenomenon previously limited to Le Retro. In Professor Hamoumi’s era, social life was mostly confined to the outdoors, a few larger apartments, or nights in Monaco on which a memorable part of the night invariably included 3 a.m. bus rides along serpentine roads, causing some alcohol and dizziness induced “incidents.”

Conversely, many of the festivities of the last year took place in apartments. An iconic party spot in contemporary Menton is Soundproof — the student residence where wild nights sometimes start, but always end. Professor Hamoumi cited a similar apartment from his time in Menton. But it is yet to be confirmed whether it was in the same building as Soundproof, or if they were just on the same street.

However, there remain a few notable constants besides the integral role of the ummah and a lingering separation between the English and French track. It seems that the Mercedes Benz of the owner of the New Asian Store is a product of the sponsorship of generations of Sciences Pistes’ late-night alcohol purchases.

The culinary scene of Menton has also not been subject to much change, including the traditional takeout pizza from Volcano or dinners at Marrakech and Al Vecchio Forno. An honorable mention should also be awarded to our very own Michael Jackson, whose effervescent presence is an integral part of Mentonese life and spirit.

It is clear that much in Menton seems to remain and accompany hundreds of Sciences Pistes well after their departure. As a rising 2A, it is clearer to me now how much responsibility weighs on us to preserve the community we have created and the traditions that mark our student life. Every generation of students has contributed a little piece of the ummah and once we leave a piece of our life will remain, kept alive by new eager students experiencing their own growth into adulthood and profoundly shaping their own identity.