Heath Grande-Station

    Over the course of my time as a student in F&F Studies, I have loved having the opportunity to make observable progress in French.  I remember being intimidated by reading a chapter of a book in French freshman year, and now I have several French novels on my bookshelf.  This knowledge was most noticeable during the semester I spent in Lyon my junior year, where I was able to navigate living in France and communicate in French with my classmates.  This semester gave me a new perspective on elements of French culture that my classes had discussed, and when I returned, it was satisfying to be able to tie the topics of my classes to my own experience.  Besides my semester abroad, one of the things I enjoyed the most about my time as a French major was the exposure to art, literature, music, and film that I might not have known about otherwise.  This has informed my own creative writing and changed the way that I understand English-language art.  As I go on to pursue my Masters in Library Science from University of Maryland, I hope to continue to speak French with other students there and to use French in my future career in a library or archive.