Creating a very French Legacy by Tessa

Creating a very French Legacy by Tessa - December 2016 Scholarship Essay

If I could time travel back to eager, young Tessa Sottile back in good ole eighth grade, and tell her that by the time she was eighteen she’d still be taking French. She would be astounded. I signed up for French in middle school because for one, I needed to take a foreign language, and two my mom took French in high school so I said hey why not? The language did not come easily to me, at all! However, there was something exhilarating when I could speak a new phrase without completely butchering it, or even a little awe-inspiring when I could come home and tell my mom new words I had learned; like ice cream in French is ‘une glace,’ but pizza oddly enough ‘une pizza.’ I fell in love with the art and the culture of French, and it simply took my heart and ran with it.
However, as I went forward in French in high school I had many obstacles in my way. It almost had felt like I had hit a brick wall; speaking made me incredibly nervous and writing made me sweat. My once fiery passion for the language quickly dispersed. It wasn’t until I met my french teacher junior year where I was inspired. Not only did she believe in me to go all the way in French, but she entrusted me with starting a French club at my school. She saw something in me that I had never seen in myself a certain je ne sais quoi. It was then and there where I had an eureka moment; my goal was starting a French club with all my other friends. I began to meet with the teacher and the other students involved. We would get together almost every Thursday and try to brainstorm different ways to get all the French students together with fun activities. We would gather everyone up together and play different french games while eating French snacks.
It wasn’t until I got involved French club, and poured my heart into helping it get off the ground that I realized I really really do like French. I enjoyed helping the underclassmen learn about the culture and teaching them fun slang terms. I began to work harder in class and it jumpstarted a new goal of mine: a minor in French. I will always be proud of myself for stepping out of my boundaries and believing in myself to have the capacity to start the club. All the hours of work that I put into the meetings trying to relay my love for French to others allowed me to fall in love with the language all over again. I will probably never be a perfect French speaker, but I will forever be a strong French connoisseur and an advocate for the language. I am incredibly proud and blessed to have left behind my love for French and hopefully I have imprinted this love and gusto for the language onto my other peers.