One Year Post Grad

my grad cap design

A year ago I graduated college with two bachelor degrees, one in French and the other in Media Studies Communication. It was a whirlwind four years and I miss them so much. The experiences I had, the skills and knowledge I gained, and the life-long friends that I made along the way.

I had actually wanted to post this post the actual day of my graduation but things happened so instead I am posting on the year anniversary of my graduation party that happened a week later. I also didn't know if a post like this was something that should really be posted, due to the situations surrounding all high school and college/university graduations across the globe at the moment. But I really wanted to talk about my experiences since I left Plymouth State and some of my thoughts as well.

To the class of 2020, I do say this: I am so sorry that you have had your graduations derailed due to this whole pandemic. I wish we could have stopped this in time to let you guys have that special moment of walking across a stage and receiving your diploma. And if you feel this post may not be comfortable for you to read with me talking about my own graduation, please feel free to exit the post. I will not mind, and I understand not reading things that make you feel sad or hurt. And I hope you can all make the most out of this time and what the world has given you and will give you in the future.

Friends and I at convocation

As for me, I remember working so hard towards that goal of walking across the stage. Then it finally came, and I was so nervous, scared, and sad all at the same time. I didn't want my time in college to end and I also wanted to go forward into the future. I knew I had the skills and the know-how to get through life, but was also scared that maybe I didn't know as much as I could have. What if I had missed something and that was the missing link? But I had to swallow those little fears and get my cap and gown. I went to convocation and got the award from the Communication department and got the award as the Distinguished Senior of the Media Studies degree, and even got a gift from my French advisor (with a book that I'm currently reading now!). Things seemed to be going good and I was happy with where I was.

The language department and
my French advisor, Kate.

Then the next day came, and it was time to graduate. And I did. It was a lot of stress to make sure I was there on time and made it to the spot where we walked down from. My feet hurt while we waited to go into the auditorium for the actual ceremony, but I was hanging out with the people from both my majors and my advisors so I didn't care all that much. It was a special day and I would be happy about it.

As I walked in I saw my family (my mom, sister, dad, step-mom, and nephew) all there waving STICKS WITH MY FACE ON IT! While at first I was only slightly embarrassed I laugh at it now and the leftover ones (they were many of them made) are now toys that my nephew plays with. I sat with my friend Christine as we listened to all of the speeches, and was also texting my friends about small funny things during the whole ceremony. It was a fun day, even though we were stuffed all close together and it was a decently hot day.

Looking back at the day now, I realize that I have very little photos from it. There were so many people crowding into the fields outside the building doing the same thing, and I also had to go back and take all my things out of my dorm before a certain time. I only have photos with my French advisor, parents, and sister and nephew as real graduation photos. I never got those photos done in my cap and gown while walking around campus or in a pretty local like many others do. This may also be due to the fact that I didn't finish my cap until the thursday before I walked. I get a bit sad and nostalgic for that day, wishing I had had more time to take more pictures with my friends and teachers on that day, but I know there is time still to take photos with those people, just not in the same context. And it's the people that matter the most anyway!

Back home, I gave myself about a week/week and a half before reapplying to my job that I had had for a few summers before at Party City. I needed something to bring in an income while job searching and saving up for loans. There have been many applications sent out, many cover letters written, and so many searches on LinkedIn and Indeed, and so far I have not found a career. Sometimes I wonder if my intelligence and good grades were all a façade and I actually didn't know anything that was taught to me while in school, but I know that I have those skills and knowledge to really set me over the top. My professors were the best at what they do and I'm still working to make them proud of me.

the only selfie I took that day

When this is done I will be doing a mix of reading and job searching still. I have some avenues that I have yet to travel down for job searching and plan to go there, perhaps that will bring me to that dream career that hasn't even been unlocked in my mind yet.

It's weird that it's only a year since I graduated, how did the time fly by so quickly? How will my life differ in just one more year? It's all speculative and I am both excited and scared for the future, but the excitement wins out more. I've had many rejections from jobs (luckily they weren't bad just that I was 'not picked for the position') and many that just didn't respond to me, but that won't stop me. I know I'm worth it. I'm worth a good job and a good life, so as long as I continue to fight for that and for myself, that's perfect in my book.

I've got my whole life ahead of me, and it's nice and bright.

Thank you for reading this very long and nostalgic post, and if you have any questions about my life as a student or post grad, or even want to share your feelings on being a graduate past or present, please comment below!

À bientôt!

Photo/Gif creds: all grad photos taken by me, family, or friends day of grad, kitty kiss, 

Une promenade à travers l'histoire - My French Capstone Event

So, as many of you know, I have a French major. A big part of this program, and the major itself, is the French Capstone, a large research course taken by all French students as the last class before they finish the program. The capstone may be different in other universities, but for mine, it's this.

You, as a student, can chose any topic or subject to base your capstone on. You can do a paper, a presentation, and video project (almost did one of these but didn't have a good enough topic in mind), or even make an event. This is what I decided to do.

Making a public event is not something that I've ever done before as well, so I thought it would be a great experience to attempt this as well during my capstone. Really testing my skills and knowledge of how to plan events and create something many people can enjoy.

For my topic, I wanted to focus on Franco-Americans and their history. I have always been interested in this topic since I took a diversity of Franco-Communities class my sophomore year of college. I was so interested in the different aspects of the history and culture of Franco-Americans/French-Canadians and I wanted to know more.

So I looked for books, my advisor sent me the same articles that I read in that class, and I started to do my research and event planning. I read a mix of six different books, and about five articles, all which gave me great information and facts about the history and culture (and even the discrimination) of Franco-Americans. Then, when it got time to create the posters and chose my topics, I had a lot of work to do. There were so many aspects and facts that I wanted to feature. But I couldn't have them all.

I decided on having three large posters on Acadia and the Great Upheaval, Franco-American press and other writings, and lastly Franco-American names and their changes. For me, these were the most interesting topics surrounding them that I wanted to showcase. I did have a small paper about the discrimination of Franco-Americans, but I feel that so many parts of history mostly touch upon that aspect of history and I wanted to more show the better areas of their history. I was present at the event as well, for anyone who had any questions that I could answer, whether about the posters or another question off the top of their head. (I can answer some of these questions in the comments as well if you'd like). Here are my posters.

Franco-American names

Discrimination of Franco-Americans

Acadia and Acadian history

Franco-American press and writings

I also wanted to have two different aspects of Franco-Americans at the event. So I made a playlist of music by Franco-Americans (and some Quebecois songs because they are similar and connected in my opinion) and traditional food. For food I has Mulled Cider, Tourtière (pork pie), and Grand-Père dans le sirop (maple syrup dumplings) with ice cream. It was all so good! I think I'm going to make those dumplings when I get home over the summer because it was one of the best things I've ever tasted, if I'm being honest.

The Event

I held the event on the 29th of April, and I was surprised by actually how many people came and were interested in the subject and asked me questions! I felt so good to have my information and research pay off with people asking me so many questions and want more information on Franco-Americans. It was worth it, to myself and my education.

I had two different classes come by and take notes on my information, and most of the food was gone by the end when it was time to pack up the posters. I had so many people who came up to me and asked so many questions, and wanted to know even more than the information that I had hanging up. There was so much planning and research that went into this event, and then it was all over after three hours. It's jarring.

Presentations

me at student showcase

I presented about my Capstone event two separate times, and it was great to talk even more about my event and the outcome of it as well.

Student Showcase of Research & Engagement: This is an event that students can submit their projects and research reports and showcase them to members of the community. It was required for me to also have my capstone there and I thought it was fun to do it!

Celebration of French Achievement: This was a mix of awarding the students who won the Euclide Gilbert French Video award from the Franco-American Center of NH, and for all the French majors to show and their capstone research. I hadn't seen my classmates projects before this and I was excited to see them! They all did really great jobs.

You can watch the video that I made talking about the event (in similar and different detail) and see some of the event in video here on my YouTube channel. And don't be afraid to ask me any questions about my project and research! I'm very willing to answer questions and more of this topic.

À bientôt!

Photo/GIF creds: posters by me, Jordan's photo of me at SSR&E,

Senior Moments

So, I'm not a senior citizen, but I am a senior in college, which basically has the same anxieties and difficulties, if not more of them because I'm spending so much money on an education to get a job to help me pay off my education. Absolutely nutso. Or maybe I'll just be one crazy old lady who rambles about books and cats, but we'll get to that bridge a little later in life.

So I've started my last first semester of my Undergraduate career. I am only 8-9 months away from having two Bachelor of Arts degrees, who exciting is that!? Well, it's exciting to me and that's why I went to school, and added on the second degree (I started out as just a French major and then in my second year added a major of Media Studies Communication). Both of these majors, and my professors have helped open so many doors and opportunities for me.

However, while this is all great, I'm still worried about paying off my loans, like any college student is. Money is tight for a lot of us, but I'll keep pushing through.

Now, if you've followed my blog or even my YouTube you would have seen a post or a video about how I was going to study abroad in Canada this semester. That didn't happen. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find housing up in Canada that I felt was safe enough or close enough to my host school. So at the last minute my friend and I (who was also supposed to go) dropped out of the program and we returned to our home school. We were lucky to be accepted back and helped so quickly.

We live together in one of the upperclassmen dorms, and I'm taking classes for both my majors to help me get closer to graduation and I have to start looking for projects for my French Capstone, so any ideas could be helpful!

I want to share wisdom from my last three years, but I don't know what to say, or even if the things that I would say could be wise. So I'll just list a few things that are close to clichés and hope that they help people in their daily lives and anyone heading into college.

1. Make friends - talk to people in your classes. I found one of my best friends in my first year math class. We sat next to each other and just joked for the rest of the semester. It also turns out we went to the same high school, were in the same band/colorguard, knew each other, but just weren't friends, but hey! That's what college is for.
2. Go to events - Bingo is big on my campus. We go hard for those boards and prizes. I even won a game my freshman year! It's a fun atmosphere and you might even meet new friends during the events.
3. Talk to your advisors/professors - They are there to help you. I talk to my advisor for my French major as often as I can (I'll do that with my MSC advisor too soon since she's back from Sabbatical). They want to hear from you, want to be able to help you in any way that they can, so let them!
4. Do your homework. Buy/rent the books (physical copies or e-copies). Go to class. I know there are so many videos giving you tips and tricks on how to pass a class without going or even reading the book, but you're already paying so much money to go there, why waste it??
5. Take what you can get. I lived my first year in a dorm, the next two years in an apartment, now I'm in a dorm again. And I'm fine with that! I have a home. Don't be upset with where you are at first, you'll find your place and where you're better later. Let things take time.

My first week of classes has come and gone. My room is getting set up how I want it to look, I'm excited for the semester and the year to come.

If you're someone in college, just starting college, or going to college in the coming years and want to grab some advice that I didn't share in here, comment down below! I'd love to share more of the thoughts in my brain that I can't format into this post.

À bientôt!

Pic/Gif creds: college clip art, crazy eyes,