Recent graduate Lily Mahan talks about starting French immersion preschool at the age of three, what it was like to transition out of a full immersion program at the end of elementary school, and how knowing French affects her worldview. “I am who I am today because of my immersion experience,” she says. Lastly, graduating with a French major, Mahan talks about her future and how she hopes to live and work in France one day.

Sophia Wright discusses how her majors in French and music work together in harmony. Wright applies her language skills and understanding of French culture and history to her studies of music and art. She draws connections between different art forms and time periods to create a clearer picture of Western history with the help of her French immersion background. By overcoming challenges in her immersion experience, Wright was able to excel in her other classes because of her French background.

Italian major Lena Schroeder, '18, will teach English in Austria in 2018-2019.

Committed to public health development in an international context, French major Jane Leach jumped at the opportunity to learn abroad in Senegal, where she gained cross-cultural healthcare experience by working with mothers and babies at a rural clinic. She returned to Minneapolis with a more nuanced understanding of French studies and a renewed passion for public health. "It felt like [I had found] something I could dedicate my life to."