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Submission information
Submission Number: 237
Submission ID: 941
Submission UUID: 76dddc87-5ae7-412c-922e-dd1dd7197aef
Created: Thu, 04/14/2022 - 21:36
Completed: Thu, 04/14/2022 - 21:36
Changed: Tue, 05/13/2025 - 15:27
Remote IP address: 128.138.129.163
Submitted by:Anonymous
Language: English
Is draft: No
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Nai'a
Ryman
She/her
Arcata
CA
United States
95521
Aerospace
French (5) English (5) spanish (2)
“Uhhh Bon-jor... vous parlez English?” I heard a man’s nervous voice close behind me. Trying to mimic the French language as best he could, lifting the edges of his vowels and dragging out others. The American English oozed through his teeth. He sported a Red Socks cap and an “I Love Paris” shirt. I answered him, my cheeks blushing. I realized, at that moment I had made it. He thought I was French!
I spent the entirety of my sophomore year living abroad and attending St. Felix, a French high school in Nantes, France. Becoming an international student-resident at 15 years old completely derailed my understanding of how the world works. Not only did I encounter cultural and language barriers, but I was also faced with an entirely new system of education.
The French high school system is comparable to American colleges. Students often live in dorms on campus, classes are noninteractive and lecture-based, and students start picking their “majors” from when they are preteens—slowly narrowing down their path of study. As French is my second language, I picked what I thought would be most equitable to the English equivalent courses: History, Chemistry, and Math. Numbers are still numbers, even in French, so I thought. I forgot that I would have to understand French instruction on complex mathematical terms and chemistry equations. With practically no French under my belt, at first, I couldn't understand even the simplest instructions in my classes. The impersonal, hands-off teaching style was unlike the discussion-based classes I had experienced in the U.S. I knew I would have to step out of my comfort zone and take initiative if I wanted to succeed. I reached out to my professors to create an educational plan and my peers for more in-depth explanations of instructions and assignments. With extensive studying, my French improved and made every aspect of my life in France easier.
Having to navigate far out of my comfort zone allowed me to grow tremendously both academically and emotionally. I have become better at advocating for myself, understanding cultural differences, and persevering through academic barriers.
I spent the entirety of my sophomore year living abroad and attending St. Felix, a French high school in Nantes, France. Becoming an international student-resident at 15 years old completely derailed my understanding of how the world works. Not only did I encounter cultural and language barriers, but I was also faced with an entirely new system of education.
The French high school system is comparable to American colleges. Students often live in dorms on campus, classes are noninteractive and lecture-based, and students start picking their “majors” from when they are preteens—slowly narrowing down their path of study. As French is my second language, I picked what I thought would be most equitable to the English equivalent courses: History, Chemistry, and Math. Numbers are still numbers, even in French, so I thought. I forgot that I would have to understand French instruction on complex mathematical terms and chemistry equations. With practically no French under my belt, at first, I couldn't understand even the simplest instructions in my classes. The impersonal, hands-off teaching style was unlike the discussion-based classes I had experienced in the U.S. I knew I would have to step out of my comfort zone and take initiative if I wanted to succeed. I reached out to my professors to create an educational plan and my peers for more in-depth explanations of instructions and assignments. With extensive studying, my French improved and made every aspect of my life in France easier.
Having to navigate far out of my comfort zone allowed me to grow tremendously both academically and emotionally. I have become better at advocating for myself, understanding cultural differences, and persevering through academic barriers.
I would love to live across from someone who has had a completely different life experience than myself. Someone with whom I could share different cultures, traditions, experiences, and languages! I would love my hallmate to be highly motivated in both foreign language and engineering so we could help and push one another to be the best versions of ourselves. I would love someone who is outdoorsy, creative, and also up for an adventure. At Boulder, I am looking to make lasting friendships and connections in engineering but also in language and ex-pat communities. Having the opportunity to live with other international students and multi-lingual students is an amazing experience I am I'm eagerly anticipating at Boulder. Having people that I can practice and grow my language skills with is tremendously important to me. You form such strong and unique connections with people by sharing a language and interests and that's exactly what I am looking for in Global Engineering Residential Program.
Being part of the Global Engineering RAP at CU Boulder would allow me to be around those with shared interests and goals as myself. Being in an environment like the Global Engineering RAP would help challenge and propel me into developing a diverse engineering cohort. I value my experience abroad and I would see this opportunity as a gift to be surrounded by future engineers like me, who have a passion for languages and cultures. I want to be in this program because it adds a valuable layer of inspiration to an already exciting field. After my time abroad in France, I realized that there is little opportunity to practice my French language skills. Being around other bilingual and language learners, would provide me with amazing language practice as well as broaden my cultural understanding. I love teaching and helping others with both French and English. During my time abroad I worked as a group and individual English teacher and tutor, and after my return, I worked as a French tutor here in California. I could contribute a unique, and encouraging personality to the Global Engineering RAP. I would love to help create language-rich social gatherings, and programs to encourage community connection. I would truly thrive in this environment and honestly, it sounds super engaging! Living in a supportive environment of language enthusiasts and engineers would be the ideal situation for me to use my French daily, as well as help others improve theirs while studying at CU Boulder.
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