Q: Where are you going this summer?
A: I’m going to San Roque, France, which is in Brittany. It’s on the northwest side of France.
Q: When are you going?
A: I’m leaving June 8.
Q: Are you going through the school or somewhere else?
A: It’s through Indiana University and they send preferable juniors, but sometimes they send sophomores and seniors so high school students in general. They have locations in Mexico, Spain, Chile, France, Germany, Austria and China. They send 33 kids to each [country.]
Q: How did you get into the program?
A: First you have to be in third-year French. You register to take this test; it’s a three-hour test and I took it at Crown Point. They have several testing locations and then if you pass the test you invited to apply online so you go to their website and go through the application process which is a lot of multiple-choice questions and then short answer questions and then at the end there were a couple of essays to do. After that, they either accepted your application or they invited you for an interview. I was invited to an interview so I went to [Indiana University Northwest] for it. It was just a couple of minutes. Part of it was in English to see if you were right for the program and the other part was in the language you were applying for. You had to use certain tenses so they could make sure you were pretty flexible with the language. So after my interview I got the email that I was accepted. You don’t get to choose your city; they just assign one to you.
Q: What are you most excited for?
A: I’m excited about my locations because it’s in a really nice area, and I’ve seen pictures and it’s really beautiful. It’s an older city and in the country but it’s on the train line that connects Brest to Paris. I’m just a train ride away from those cities. Because of my location I feel like I’ll be able to get to different parts of the country pretty easily. I’m also excited about learning the language and becoming fluent and being immersed in the culture.
Q: If you could do one thing while you were there, what would you do?
A: I am a jazz singer; I study at the Merit School of Music which is a magnet school. Jazz has had a lot of success in France so I would like to visit some older very French jazz clubs or find areas that are famous for music.
Q: What are you going to do to prepare for your trip?
A: I’ve been trying to read a lot of French news so I know about the current events that are going on and I’ve tried to read the news in French to see how much of it I can understand. I should probably find a book and try to read it in French just to see how much of the language I can handle before I go. Also, I want to watch a lot of French movies and listen to a lot of French music, which I do already.
