The first French word I learned was plié, to bend, followed shortly by relevé, to raise. As a dancer, my passion was communicating through movement, but I never realized that ballet class was preparing me for a future of communicating through language.

While my peers chose French because it was the “easy” language, I chose French because I was a ballerina, and ballerinas spoke French. Numbers for French classes began to dwindle as I progressed through the higher level courses, until I completed AP French V, and became the lone graduate of Central Dauphin High School's class of 2010 pursuing a bachelor’s degree in French.  

My major is French and Francophone studies with a concentration in international business, and I chose a minor in Global Business Solutions for the Earth, Energy, and Mineral Industries. After graduating, I want to be involved in the international initiative for cleaner energy sources and hope to be living in France.

Until then, I am working on my communication skills mostly through French classes, but also through rhetoric. I was first exposed to rhetoric in the spring of my freshman year at Penn State in my LA 101H English class. On the first day my professor had me write what I thought the definition of rhetoric was, and I honestly had no idea. During the activity I rambled on about rhetoric, while beating around the bush and never writing an actual definition. Now that I have completed the course, I can say I know what rhetoric is. Rhetoric is the way we speak and the way we interpret what others say. There is rhetoric in how I present myself. Rhetoric is effective communication. All of these qualities of rhetoric will be important to me, as I advance in my life and career trying to communicate in a foreign language. Lucky for me, I had LA 101H to kick start my future as a rhetor, just as ballet fueled my future as a French speaker.

Si vous avez des intérêts dans mon écriture français,  visitez mon e-portfolio français.