I made it my goal freshman year of high school to speak French fluently and I’m proud that I never let that go. Part of the reason was because my mom used to tell me about her semester abroad in Cannes and I couldn’t wait to have my own experience in France. I had planned to continue taking French classes in college but I only decided to pursue the major after taking courses with Pr. M. Leruth and Pr. Fauvel. They were both extremely passionate and got me excited about studying the language. Pr. Leruth has gone out of his way to advise me throughout my college career and I am extremely thankful for his guidance and support.
2) My best experiences have been the close interactions that I’ve had with so many warm and approachable professors that go out the way to encourage me. William & Mary truly does have great teachers. One touching experience that comes to mind was during a sophomore year grammar course with Pr. Kulick. For one of our presentations, we were supposed to read a piece of poetry out loud. I chose Chanson d’automne by Paul Verlaine and I enlisted my roommate to play his viola while I read to the class. As a joke, I passed around a hat to collect some extra cash! A few days later after class, Pr. Kulick gave me a card with a $20 inside saying that she really appreciated my creativity.
3) Studying a foreign language has changed my life. I got to meet so many people during my time abroad and I’ve made great friends in the our program. It has also made me a more tolerant and culturally curious person for which I’m very grateful. I was especially excited to take two literature courses my senior year, one with Pr. Compan and the other with Pr. St. Clair. They were absolutely spectacular.
4) I will stay a fifth year at William & Mary to earn a master degree in Public Policy and I hope to audit additional French courses. After earning my graduate degree, I plan to work to pay down some of my students loans and to eventually attend either law school or pursue a Ph.D.
Chinese culture and history courses have been my favorite classes throughout my college career and I can’t imagine what my William & Mary experience would be like without them. The Chinese major led me to live in the Chinese House, become involved with the Confucius Institute, dance for Chinese foreign dignitaries, learn Chinese painting, and study in beautiful Southern China. As I prepare to transition into the professional world, I don’t see myself immediately working with Chinese issues and topics. However, my hope is that I will continue to study the Chinese language and culture, and one day apply it to my career. Nevertheless, I am sure that I will always be eager to learn more about China.
I originally chose to major in this discipline to broaden my understandings of communities and experiences in the US, Latin American and Spain while improving my language skills. Memorable experiences I have had in the program include my work and time as a Sharpe scholar my freshman year through a course on Ethical Fashion, engaging seminar conversations in classroom settings and with professors, my senior seminars and especially my time abroad in Sevilla, Spain. There I engaged with a local community through an unforgettable service learning experience working with individuals from a range of Latin American and European countries. I could not speak enough about this abroad experience and am so grateful to the program for the incredible opportunity!
I was especially excited to give a presentation at the departmental research festival this year, remembering how impressed I had been when I first attended the event as a sophomore. This personal and intellectual growth would not have been possible, were it not for the challenging and supportive community of the French department. Living in the French house has also shaped my college experience in a profound way. As a transfer student, I struggled to find my place at William and Mary until I discovered the crazy, wonderful people who made my junior and senior years incredible. I also have my professors to thank for encouraging me to study abroad. Although I have loved French since middle school, it wasn’t until my semester in Paris that I decided to be a French major. I fell so in love that I had to go back! Next year, I will be an English teaching assistant at a primary school in the Bordeaux area.
Brittany originally chose to study Hispanic Studies because of a love for the Spanish language and Hispanic cultures. This love was reinforced during her semester abroad in Sevilla, Spain where she lived with the best host family ever and fell in love with Spanish culture from the beautiful cathedrals and Catholic traditions to the azulejos decorating the streets to the delicious tortilla española. Brittany is incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to develop such language skills and explore so many new cultures. Next year, Brittany will be earning her Master’s in Elementary Education through the University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education while teaching 5th grade full-time at Holy Rosary School in Jacksonville, FL.
“I will be graduating with a double major in public policy and Hispanic studies. I’ve always loved learning about and experiencing new languages and cultures, which made majoring in Hispanic the perfect fit. Being a Hispanic studies major has also meant a great deal to me personally; as someone with Hispanic ancestry, I feel that my participation in this program has deepened and strengthened my connection with my roots.
I took my very first Japanese language class all the way back in 2004, as an eighth grade elective, simply because it was different from anything else I’d studied. It was indeed different, and that proved to be one of the hardest things about it. But it was also one of the most tremendously rewarding things as well. Almost ten years later, here I am, and it has taught me so many things: how to succeed and, more importantly, how to fail; how to look at the world from a different perspective; and most of all, what I love in life, which is studying Japanese culture.
I am an accounting and French double major, and I’ll be at William & Mary next year to complete my Master’s of Accounting. I studied abroad in Paris in Spring 2013 through IFE, an experience that greatly improved my conversational skills and confidence in the language. With my knowledge of both business and a foreign language, in the future I hope to either work abroad or work for an international nonprofit that focuses on human rights. Through my time in the French department, not only have I learned about the differences between French and American societies, but also practical skills, in particular critical thinking and translation.
Sarah chose to major in French & Francophone studies because the culture has had a profound effect on her life and has become one of her greatest passions. As a child she was lucky to have lived in Geneva, Switzerland for a few years where she developed a love for the language as well as the important historical background of the Francophone community. Studying with the French department gave her the opportunity to travel abroad to Montpellier for a summer. While there, she discovered the beauty the south of France has to offer, but also the openness and diversity of the people. Studying French at a collegiate level has given Sarah insight into another culture but has also helped continue to push her towards her ultimate goal of living abroad. The William & Mary French department is a community she is so proud to be a part of and she hopes to continue using all that she has learned throughout her travels and studies that are sure to follow.
Upon entering W&M four years ago as a shy New Englander with an intense love for books and learning, I had my mind set on majoring in history and government. It took only one class with Professor Cate-Arries however, that freshman fall semester, for me to completely change my plans and commit myself whole-heartedly to Hispanic Studies. I feel so incredibly fortunate to have found a home within the Modern Languages Department so early in my college career, and have loved every moment spent learning from and working under the passionate and talented Hispanic Studies faculty. For me, they vibrantly brought the study of language, culture, literature, history, and politics to life, and made going to class exciting, unpredictable, and incredibly thought-provoking. Not only have I been able to grow as a scholar through their guidance and support, but also as an individual, with an incredibly broadened-world view and passion for a wide range of social and cultural issues. Over the past four years, I have been able to travel to Spain twice on research grants, intern at the Library of Congress, and conduct honors research on penitentiary poetry under franquismo, a topic incredibly close to my heart, which in fact stems all the way back to that first freshman class with Professor Cate-Arries. Along the way I have also watched movies that have completely changed the way I understand cinema, read novels and plays that have found a permanent spot on my shelf of favorites, analyzed art in a variety of mediums ranging from traditional oil paint to Andean thread, and ultimately fallen in love with a language that was by no means by native tongue.
“It’s been my dream to speak French since I was about 10 years old, so I was relatively sure I wanted to pursue further studies when I came to college. What I’ve learned in the French program has been a great deal more than just the language however; it’s really changed who I am and shaped how I see the world. I had the chance to study abroad in Lyon, France during the fall of my junior year and then was also able to do research in Paris this past summer for my senior thesis. Spending time in France was a crystallizing and important step; it felt like the fulfillment of everything I worked toward in 8 years of studying French in class. France made me fall in love with art, poetry, film and literature, and instilled in me the passion to continue pursuing these interests at William and Mary. Someday, I hope to pursue graduate studies in French literature and art. For my senior thesis, I looked at the aesthetic connections between music and poetry, through a comparison of several poems by the nineteenth century poet, Paul Verlaine, and their accompanying song settings by the composer, Claude Debussy.
Before I’d even gotten to William and Mary, I knew that I wanted to study Russian and Chinese. Luckily, I was able to get into classes for both languages in my first semester, and found myself in true linguistic love. After almost four years of memorizing characters, reciting Pushkin, forgetting characters, staging absurd Russian skits, re-memorizing characters, going on mad study abroad adventures, and wrestling with prefixed verbs of motion, I’m pleased to say that I still love Russian and Chinese just as much as when I started studying them. I hope to go back abroad next year to study Russian in Kyrgyzstan, and to eventually work with both languages as an interpreter or translator.
Hayley Fallon is a French and Sociology double major. She grew up in Meredith, New Hampshire, and from a young age, it was clear she had no idea what she wanted to do. The summer after her freshman year in college, she spent a magical summer in Montpellier, France through a William & Mary study abroad program, and she chose to major in French and Francophone studies. She spent her junior year in Rennes, France, where she had some unforgettable moments, made life-long friends, and fell even further in love with the language and culture. Hayley’s experiences in France have solidified her desire to return after graduation.
1. After seven years of putting little effort into Spanish, I decided I wanted to make a concerted effort to learning a new language. Hoping to one day communicate with my Baba in Serbian, I decided to learn Russian since it was the closest to Serbian. After my first year of Russian, I fell in love with the language. I knew that I wanted to explore all aspects of Russia further (e.g., politics, history and literature).
Hi, my name is Fallon Fitzgerald and part of the Class of William and Mary 2014. I am a double major in Hispanic Studies and Latin American Studies. I chose to major in Hispanic Studies mainly to learn how to write and speak effectively in the Spanish language in order to connect with my native Peruvian roots and culture. I’ve had many memorable experiences in the program including my study abroad experience in Argentina and learning about the rich culture of Latin America. While studying abroad, I lived in La Plata for six months and traveled back to my birthplace in the country of Peru for the first time. The Hispanic Studies program has allowed me to better understand and grasp my own identity as a Hispanic and appreciate differences of people and cultures through literature, poetry, films, real life experiences, and relationships with others. In the future, I plan to teach English in a Latin American country and contribute to the Hispanic/Latino population in the United States or in another country in any way possible.
I chose Hispanic Studies as my secondary major after taking Literary Criticism my freshman year. I enjoyed and wanted to continue analyzing literary texts to discover how they contribute to the discourse on relevant socio-political and cultural issues. As a Hispanic Studies major, one of the most important lessons I have learned is that there is no singular, homogeneous “Hispanic” or “Latino” culture. For example, in the senior seminar “Confronting the Barrio,” we discussed the relationship between “barrioization” and “barriology”–theoretical terms that refer respectively to the representation of the barrio from within and from the outside–to determine how this space and places has been socially and historically constructed by various sources.
I wish I had a better story for what drew me to Hispanic Studies or how I ended up in this major, but ultimately I was one of the many students who studied Spanish in high school and just wanted to keep the language up. I never guessed that I would spend hours talking with friends and professors about what Hispanic Studies was, nor that I would make so many friends both in the major and around the world thanks to the opportunities I’ve had with the department.
Libby started studying French eleven years ago, inspired by her trip to Paris and the Loire Valley. This kicked off her love of learning languages. Her favorite part of the William and Mary French program was the summer she spent studying in Montpellier. After graduation, Libby is marrying her boyfriend of six years and they will move to Alexandria, Virginia where she will pursue a career in theatrical house management.
“Prior to matriculating at the College of William & Mary, I could have never guessed that I would be graduating four years later with a Hispanic Studies major. Born and raised in Miami, I lived immersed in Latino and Latin American culture and did not recognize the importance of these early influences until I moved away. It started out as a genuine interest in the language, but by my sophomore year, I began to recognize Spanish not just as list of vocabulary and grammar rules, but rather as a tool for communicating ideas and building connections between communities to address greater issues. Most importantly, Hispanic Studies has given me the tools to better understand and be critical of United States and ultimately myself in a more global context.
My decision to study Hispanic Studies here at the college was a gradual one. Originally a History major, over the course of my first year and a half here included a few Hispanic Studies courses I took with the intent of simply maintaining and improving my Spanish language skills, however I slowly found myself falling in love with the culture, language and history of the pre-Colombian and Hispanic worlds. As I took more and more classes it went from an interest, to a minor and finally I decided that there was no way I could truly enjoy studying or working in any other field in any comparable way.
I’ve had an affinity for studying Spanish since high school, so I was already planning to major in Hispanic Studies when I arrived at William and Mary. However, as I navigated the William and Mary curriculum, my passion grew to encompass not only language, but also Hispanic history, literature, and culture. I felt my horizons broadening with every passing semester. My Hispanic Studies professors have helped me learn to view everything with a discerning eye. I learned that the history we’re taught in school must often be questioned; that censorship still exists even within our own modern nation; and that the voices through which information is relayed cannot always be accepted as fair, objective, or all-inclusive. I feel that the lessons I’ve learned from my Hispanic Studies major have poised me to be a more conscious and responsible world citizen.
I chose to major in Hispanic Studies because proficiency in Spanish allows me to serve and form more meaningful relationships with Spanish-speakers both in the United States and abroad. I love the Hispanic Studies department at William and Mary because of the small class sizes, the relationships formed with faculty, and the variety of perspectives explored in the courses. One of my favorite experiences in the major was studying abroad in Sevilla, Spain where I taught an introductory English class to adult immigrants from northern Africa and South America as well as traveled all over Spain learning about its rich cultural history. I also greatly enjoyed the opportunity to be a Teaching Assistant for HISP 103 last fall. I have spent the spring student teaching at a local high school and will graduate with Virginia licensure to teach Spanish (K-12).
I am a twenty-one year old senior and am a transfer student from Tidewater Community College, having only been at “the College” for the past two years. I am double majoring in Linguistics and French, which I began studying just a few years ago. What was once a simple hobby has blossomed into a deep-seated love for the French language and French/Francophone literature. One of the best memories of my time here at William & Mary would definitely have to be my study abroad trip to Montpellier, France with the fabulous Professor Maryse Fauvel, after which I traveled to Belgium, Austria, England, and Iceland. The entire experience only intensified my love for French and made me determined to spend more time in France. Because of this, I have applied to the Teaching Assistant Program in France, where I plan to teach English in Bretagne, Lorraine, or la Réunion, beginning what I hope will be a long career in second-language acquisition, whether French or English
At the beginning of my freshman year I never thought I would be a Hispanic Studies major, but today I do not know what I would be doing after graduation without it. I remember even that after I declared my double major in Psychology and Hispanic Studies, I still considered Hispanic Studies to be my “fun” major. I decided to major because I found the challenge of speaking in a different language exhilarating. I often felt far from the most fluent in my classes, but the feeling of getting exponentially more proficient through each semester encouraged me to keep pursuing the major. I also loved learning about the different cultures of Latin America. There was a wealth of knowledge and history that I had no idea about until I started enrolling in classes about Mexico and Argentina and even the barrios in the United States.
Hispanic studies has helped me to enhance my language capabilities, familiarize myself with incredible Spanish and Latin American literature and learn about social and political issues faced by Latinos both within and outside U.S. borders. Furthermore, the program has opened an array of opportunities to me. I had the chance to study abroad for a year through the program in Seville, Spain and work for the Embassy of Spain throughout the proceeding summer.
Sure! I got into Japanese because I heard a Japanese song when I was younger and became interested in learning the language. Studying Japanese has allowed me to not only learn another language, but learn about another culture that is so vastly different from American / European culture, and allowed me to study abroad in Japan and have such a wonderful experience learning the language and culture first-hand.
After living in Germany for three years when my father was stationed in the small town of Giebelstadt, learning German seemed like the best option for me. Though I was young, it was a way for me to immerse myself in the culture and language of the land I was living in. When I returned to the US and found out my high school offered German as well, I decided to continue to learn, and after finally getting a taste of William and Mary’s Germany department my sophomore year, I knew I’d found a home. I’ve met kind and amazing professors, learned more about the German language, nation and culture than I ever thought possible and had many experiences I might not have otherwise had.
When I first started studying at the College of William and Mary, I knew right away that I wanted to continue taking Russian, as I did in high school. Little did I know then that one language class would transform into a major and a lifestyle. Originally, I was dead set on majoring in chemistry, but after attending the William and Mary summer program in Petersburg, I had to change my mind. Using the language with native speakers and learning more about their culture merely made me want to do more.
I took my first French class at William and Mary out of habit, I had taken a French class every year for 5 years but it wasn’t something I loved. That changed thanks to the French department’s fantastic professors and interesting classes and it is now a subject I thoroughly enjoy immersing myself in. Studying abroad in Montpellier was absolutely my most memorable experience in the program but more than that, it was my favorite experience in my entire time at the College. I was lucky enough to study firsthand the culture and language (and wine) of France, as well as make friendships that will last a lifetime. Learning a foreign language has given me much more than just an extra skill to add to a resumé, it has given me the means to perceive things in a completely different fashion, something that cannot be quantified. Looking to the future, my immediate plans are to travel as much as possible for as long as possible… and either get lost somewhere in the world or find a job, whichever one happens first!
I stumbled into my Russian and Post-Soviet Studies major. It was a slow-motion stumble that began when I took Russian 101 the first semester of my freshman year. At the time, the decision to study Russian emerged from the fact that, while I’ve studied a variety of languages, I’ve never studied a Slavic one. So, prompted to fill the gap in my linguistic knowledge and spurred on by the desire to decipher the words of Russians in film, I began my studies. However, in order to fully understand a language, one must understand the history, politics and culture of the people behind it. I really wanted to understand Russian, thus I stumbled into my RPSS major to study all things Russian. It has been a fascinating scholastic journey.
I originally chose Hispanic Studies because of my urge to travel abroad to Spanish-speaking countries. My time spent in Argentina and Spain increased my language abilities and fueled my passion for further travels, working in issues of environmental justice. Hispanic Studies has provided me with a means to interpret a wide spectrum of Spanish voices that reflect how class struggles, cultural shifts, interpretations of history, and national identities affect the fight for interpretive power of a nation. In Spanish, I learn to replace relying on fact with a process of gathering perspectives and strategies to engage independently, respond quickly and be mindful of the complexity of entering a new culture or environment. I am excited to take this knowledge back abroad and in work of social change for Spanish-speaking populations in the United States.
Всем привет! My name is Sophie, and I realized I wanted to be an RPSS major before I was even halfway through Russian 101 during my freshman year. It all started with the language, since I grew up wanting to speak Russian like my Babushka and other friends and relatives from home, but as soon as I started taking classes on culture, literature, and politics, I knew there was no going back.
I chose to major in French and Francophone Studies because French has been an important part of most of my life. I was always fascinated by French culture, and my interest in other Francophone countries grew when I began taking classes at William and Mary. The French department at William and Mary offered me the opportunity to expand my knowledge of French and Francophone history, literature, and culture. Completing my major has exposed me to fields that I would not have otherwise studied, such as Art History, French Female Writers and Movie Makers, and Religion in France. Although I was unable to study abroad in France, majoring in French has given me the opportunity to communicate with a diverse array of people and has expanded my life knowledge. After graduation, I hope to spend a few years working in consulting before going to graduate school.
I chose to major in Hispanic Studies because I enjoyed learning Spanish and wanted to make a career out of it. Throughout my time at W&M as a Hispanic Studies major I’ve learned how to look at the world from the perspective of a variety of different groups spanning from that of nobles in Medieval Hispanic Literature to the Hispanic community in the United States today in Librotraficantes.
I developed a love of French culture in high school during a trip to France and Italy, and it is an interest that has followed me ever since. From the very beginning of my time at William & Mary, I knew that I wanted to continue to pursue my learning of the French language, and I was lucky enough to spend the summer of 2013 in Montpellier, France alongside 12 other students through a W&M study abroad program. In addition to this trip, other memorable experiences I have had during my four years include participation in a social sorority, leadership positions in the Panhellenic Council, and a job at Campus Recreation. After graduation, I will be pursuing a career in Health Care Management, applying to graduate schools in Washington, D.C., and hopefully spending more time in France!
Chelsea is a French and Education major who is using her degree to help the non-English speakers in her local community. She lives in Williamsburg with her husband and looks forward to new opportunities and challenges that will enrich the lives of those around her.
I associate my love for the French language with Satine’s tragic death at the conclusion of Moulin Rouge. We watched the film in my first year of French class in high school – much to the dismay of the administration – and something about its story spoke to me. Was it the snippets of French conversation that, at the time, escaped my understanding? Was it the dramatic tale of love, loss, and broken dreams that resonated with my burgeoning sense of teenage angst? Or was it, perhaps, that part of me that always wanted to experience a life of such passion and poetry, a life that can only truly be found en La Belle France? Whatever it was, I knew from that day in April 2007 that I wanted the French language to be a lasting part of my life. Now, seven years later, I am so happy with my decision to translate that seed of passion into an academic degree because of the opportunities it has afforded me. Sadly, Romance languages do not feature highly on lists of profitable majors, but what my major may lack in bankability, it more than makes up for in memorable experiences. Thanks to three and a half years with this department, I can read and discuss works of foreign literature, I can add four months at a French university in Grenoble to my list of attended schools, and I can claim my FREN210 professor as my only faculty Facebook friend. Thank you to the French department and William & Mary for three and a half special years, I’ll be sure to give you a shout out when I’m on MTV France.
” I did not come to William and Mary intending to study Chinese, but, due to the applicability of China’s growth to my other major, economics, I decided I would try taking a few classes to see how I liked them. I have never looked back. Studying Chinese has been one of the most challenging, yet rewarding undertakings of my life. In the last four years, I have traveled the length and breadth of China, studied in the Peking University language immersion program, and made life long friends through my involvement with the Chinese Department at the College. The incomparable access to China’s ancient and beautiful culture provided by my study of Mandarin has given me a passion for Sinology that I will carry far into the future. Over the course of senior year, I conducted research on Chinese sex cultures since 1978 under the guidance of Professor Calvin Hui.
Before I arrived on campus at William and Mary, I knew I wanted to study the Italian language. My interest in pursuing the study of the Italian language stemmed from a personal desire to be able to speak and comprehend the language of my ancestors. Given that practically no one in my family has spoken the language in several decades, I wanted to study Italian so that one day, my children will be able to understand and appreciate their genetic and cultural heritage. In addition to studying the language, I have thoroughly enjoyed learning more about multiple subjects of Italian history. From the Risorgimento, fascism, and classical authors such as Dante and Machiavelli, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to explore these subject areas and assess their lasting cultural and global impact on the modern era.
When I entered W&M, I enrolled in Russian 101 just for fun, after a bit of exposure to the language in high school. No language exists in a vacuum, however, so as I progressed in my language study my fascination with Russian culture, politics, and literature increased. I took more classes and eventually declared a major so I could explore this area of the world more thoroughly. The unwavering passion and support of the Russian department faculty has greatly helped me participate in enriching activities like presenting a paper on my favorite Russian author at a conference.
Steven Pau is a graduate of the Class of 2014, receiving Bachelor’s degrees in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (AMES) and a unique, self-designed major titled “Japanese Culture and Language Studies (JCLS).” During the 2013-14 year, Steven has worked on a number of projects across campus to better his own and others’ understanding of the construct of identity as a social and political entity. His research for his Honors Thesis titled “Deconstruction and Reconstruction of Self Identity: A Critical Analysis of Zainichi Korean Identity” has been influential in shaping his goals for the future as a university professor and researcher. Pulling from his own heritage, he examines the history of Japanese colonization and the Korean minority group it ultimately created in contemporary society, examining discourses of identity and the difficulties Koreans in Japan face creating their own identity today. He is working to have excerpts of his thesis published in academic journals within the year. Another project Steven is extremely proud of is the William and Mary Issues of Identity Conference, a conference dedicated to examining how identity is shaped through race, gender, sexual orientation, and class constructs in society. He hopes that this conference will encourage the campus to not simply accept multiculturalism and diversity, but actively work toward promoting them. Steven’s deep interests in the cross-section of nationalism and identity, critical race theory, and the way in which these discourses have shaped contemporary East Asia will serve as the core of his research at Duke University in the pursuit of a Master of Arts in East Asian Studies. Following his three-year program at Duke, Steven plans to pursue a Doctorate and become a professor at a reputable university in order to give back to the community and honor the professors that helped him succeed.
I did not come around to majoring in Hispanic Studies until my second-to-last year in college. After working at Claytor Lake State Park (in Southwestern Virginia) for a summer and encountering many Latinos with whom I conversed using Spanish learned in high school, I decided that it would be well worth my time to pick that up as my second major. After all, if Spanish is useful in a place as notoriously un-cosmopolitan as Appalachia, it would probably be useful anywhere else in the country, let alone in virtually the entire western hemisphere!
In high school, Spanish was always my favorite subject. The language seemed to come easily to me and I loved learning about foreign culture while creating a connection through language. I knew I wanted to continue studying Spanish in college so I took a few introductory classes and eventually decided I might as well major! The best part of my Hispanic Studies experience was definitely studying abroad on the Cadiz program during the summer between my sophomore and junior year. This was such an incredible experience of cultural immersion and study. In Cadiz, I improved my language skills immensely while communicating with local Spaniards. I came away with a better sense of the language as well as an incredible relationship with my amazing host mother! (and her family!). The research aspect of the Cadiz program was also thoroughly enriching. I was able to study a topic I am truly interested in (Spanish food!) despite the fact that I had never taken a class on this topic at school. It was liberating to be given so much freedom in research while we were in Spain so that we could truly explore all facets of the culture while it was available to us. I am so grateful for this experience!
Majoring in French & Francophone Studies was perhaps the easiest decision of my four years at the College. When I entered as a freshman, I didn’t yet have much direction, so I let my passion for the French language and culture guide me. I took class after class in the discipline through sophomore year, at which point I set my gaze eastward and traversed the Atlantic to spend the entirety of junior year abroad. My year in Lille, France, was, unsurprisingly, the most memorable experience I had as an undergraduate. The most important lessons I learned during the year were the ones learned outside the classroom. I found that, sometimes, saying yes to an opportunity doesn’t necessitate certainty or justification. I also discovered the importance of traveling light. On the one hand, this means being detached materially (which helps to avoid those pesky overweight luggage fees), but more importantly, this means freeing oneself from the weight of discouragement. May we, the Class of 2014, all begin the next adventure in our lives with great courage. Congratulations to my peers, and God Bless the Class of 2014!
I came to the Italian department to repent for years of abusing grammar. I grew up speaking “Italian”, or a barely-passing, linguistic approximation assembled from the tumbling Roman phrasing and syncopated Sardinian dialect that I absorbed from my family abroad. More often than not, I’d make the stuff up: irreverently yoking together American stems and Italian-sounding endings to communicate my day-to-day necessities (“andiamo a rentare un film?”; anglicismo, as I so often saw written on my Italian papers). Without hesitation, the Italian faculty began exorcising me of my language-mangling demons.
I came the College of William & Mary already knowing I wanted to pursue French as an area of study, but it wasn’t until I experienced the incredible classes from the unparalleled professors of our department that I decided to choose it as my major. Subsequently, I was able to participate in 2 French study abroad programs (Summer in Montpellier and Internships in Francophone Europe in Paris), and I realized that my choice was the right one for reasons beyond those I initially thought. My decision to major in French & Francophone studies has done more than I could have imagined to broaden my perspective of the world, also imbuing me with previously undiscovered self-confidence and emboldening me to not just take on new experiences, but to tackle them with enthusiasm and open-mindedness.
I first decided to take an Italian class my freshman year to gain a better understanding of a language I had grown up with, as both of my parents immigrated from Italy. The following years, as more and more classes focused on aspects of Italian literature and culture piqued my interest, I decided I wanted to pursue a minor in Italian studies. I ended up being a TA for Italian 101 and 102 for three semesters, which proved to be an extremely rewarding experience. Last summer I had an opportunity to study abroad in Bologna. There, I broadened my understanding of Italian culture. After graduating, I will be interning for a few weeks at the Library of Congress’s European Reading Room where I will be working with the Italian literature collections.
I remember being drawn to major in French from a love of French art, especially French film and music from the 20th century, such as Jean-Luc Godard and Serge Gainsbourg. Being in Paris my junior year was the highlight of my time as a French major, I enjoyed each and every day. For me, studying a modern language is like a bridge to the rest of the world, keeping me from being too isolated in my own language and culture. For the near future I’ll be moving to New York, and after that I have really no idea.
I majored in Hispanic Studies by chance; it was never my original intention. Although I knew that English would be my first major, I took a college Spanish class because the language was useful and enjoyed the intro course so much that I took more classes. Eventually I decided that I wanted to go abroad to a Spanish-speaking country – and by that point I knew I wanted to declare my major.
Ever since I enrolled at W&M, I wanted to teach language in a secondary education setting, and I’m happy to be realizing that goal soon. I originally chose to study German because I wanted to improve my proficiency in the language, though I’ve come to love language study in general through my classes in Spanish and Italian here. But through this, German has remained my fascination. The grammar makes sense to me in such a way unlike any other language I’ve studied.
I love Hispanic Studies because I value speaking a second language and learning about foreign cultures. I put my major to the test when I studied abroad in Central America, and was supremely pleased to find I was able to successfully communicate with the locals. And since no one else in my group spoke Spanish, this was really helpful too!
“Emily started college with the intention to major in history, but the lure of the French Revolution and presidential scandals proved too seductive — as did her desire to gain enough fluency to have an effective career in Francophone Africa. During the course of her time at the College, she had the great pleasure to not only study on campus but also to study and work abroad in Paris for seven months through the IFE program, where she interned at two public health nonprofits, ate a lot of pastries, learned about seventh-floor walkups and made incredible friends. She also completed, with heavy reliance on her French skills, a Monroe Project on the role of radio as a tool of reconciliation in Rwanda. In the future, Emily hopes to work in international public health with a concentration in Francophone Africa, ideally in a capacity that lets her travel as much as possible and learn more languages. But wherever she ends up, the end goal is to be as useful as possible, and to never stop seeking adventure.