It has been a great pleasure to share my experience with Mrs. Nelson’s class. I am grateful to have been matched with a classroom in Kansas, which was a much-needed connection to home these past several weeks.
I began learning French in middle school and continued into high school, being an active member of our French Club. We learned about Francophone culture, celebrated holidays together and even sold crepes at parent-teacher conferences to fund our trip to a French restaurant 30 minutes away. At this age, I would not have dared to imagine the life I have now. As part of the Modern Languages Association in college, I loved speaking with other students to let them know that there are absolutely plenty of resources available to them to continue language learning. Cultural intelligence is built through repeated cultural exposure, and it is a competency that follows you for all time. It is useful in school, work and travel, but it is also crucial to our innate desire to enjoy and understand the human experience. I cannot stress enough how important it is to learn about cultures outside of your own.
For the longest time, my dream was to visit Paris. I had Pinterest boards, itineraries and budgets planned before I even knew I would be going.
