Good afternoon.
They say the best way to experience a culture is
to immerse yourself there.
And last summer, I had the incredible opportunity
to immerse myself, not only in one, but two cultures at once.
My name is Elise Newcomer.
And this summer I created an internship
with the help of LYNK funding to work
for Gites de La Richariere, a British-owned business
providing accommodations to holidaymakers
seeking the rich destinations of the Loire Valley.
But before that, I studied abroad through the Montpellier
program.
I've always known that I wanted to study French in college.
But when I declared a French major,
I knew I needed also to study or work
in a French-speaking country to really understand
the language completely.
Little did I know that I would do both.
My year in Montpellier was, as most study abroad experiences
are, full of new challenges as I adapted to a different culture
and was immersed in a language I had studied so closely.
This connected what I had learned in the classroom
to the French-speaking world.
Here at Mount Holyoke, we studied mostly literature
in the French department, which reveals
many important qualities of the French culture.
However, arriving in France, I realized quickly how one-sided
my French skills had become.
I say now that I could analyze a work of art
in a four-page paper ready for Monday
without too much difficulty, but ask my host mother
what time dinner would be was surprisingly impossible.
These challenges not only humbled
me but showed me just how much work I had left to do
and offered me the opportunities to make that happen
in my classes at the French university
and also at home with my host family.
Being in Montpellier also put me in conversation
with working adults and other students navigating
the world of applications and interviews
as well, though there, they're called [SPEAKING FRENCH],,
is blessedly the same.
I networked through a choir that I joined.
And while I didn't ultimately find
the position I took through that venue,
I learned more about the French system regarding internships,
specifically how difficult it is for French students
to find work.
They faced similar issues in employment after graduation,
and I saw this trend later in the summer
working in Le Petit-Pressigny.
By going through that arduous process,
I feel more accustomed to the French system
and could apply for positions within France
potentially after graduation.
Also during my time in Montpellier,
I lived with a host family for one semester and an apartment
the next.
Living with a host family helped me
to adjust to the French way of life,
while also forcing me to speak the language.
When I lived on my own, I found I didn't speak as much French,
but I understood the world around me more closely.
And I appreciated the independence
of choosing the European life that fit me most.
I believe that this cultural shift
gave the emotional and communicational skills
to adjust to any community abroad or domestic
that I ended up using in my internship.
Dave and Patience Brown privately
own Gites de La Richariere, and it's also their home.
When Dave retired from being a head teacher in England they,
they bought this property in the Loire Valley
in a small village named Le Petit-Pressigny
and made it their business.
But we are never officially met before I came to France.
They are distant friends of my family,
and I spent the new year with them.
During that time, we discussed the possibility
of me working for them during the summer
to continue speaking French and went forward
with the idea in May.
So Gites de La Richariere is a property
of French style cottages, which provide accommodation
to holidaymakers seeking the destinations of the Loire
Valley.
And it's originally a farming property.
So this building on the bottom here
is the Pigeonnier, which in French means the pigeon house.
And so it's this lovely couple's cottage
that is a self-catering opportunity for couples
honeymooning or things like that to rent that out for the week.
There's a fully equipped kitchen.
There's washing machines on site.
It's really such a wonderful, beautiful place.
This is a collaboration-- this internship-- was
a collaboration on both of our parts,
as Gites de La Richariere had never had an intern.
And so this was an opportunity for me
to learn about their business and assess what
my skills could provide them.
Here was a chance to combine the skills I gained
at Mount Holyoke and French grammar
and in my translation class in Montpellier.
However, I would be remiss in not including funding
as a major factor in this collaboration.
As an independent business, my employers
were not able to pay me.
And the support I received from LYNK
is the only way I could have taken this opportunity.
I've included timing also as a major
valuable in this application process as well.
This is all done in the spring, as I was also
weighing the opportunity of coming back to the United
States overstaying in France, where
I would need to renew my Visa and other complications.
I found positions and applied through the alumni network as
well as Lyonnet while I was in Montpellier,
I applied to 10 different positions in America and Europe
with La Richariere as a backup.
I contend that no matter how much planning you can do,
the process really does come down
to what is available and logical and who responds quickly
and positively to communication.
Looking back, I would encourage any applicant
to continue to remain in contact with the organization whose
position you are applying for.
After a week, send an email and remind them
of your application to ensure that they received it.
In multiple cases, the organizations
had not received my application, and that's
why I wasn't hearing back from them.
After a week, send an email and remind them
of your application.
Remember that the Career Development
Center is a great source for those
applying abroad and on campus.
Their online resources made my resume extremely strong,
and I met with Karen Miller multiple times over Skype.
MHC provides funding of $3,000 for domestic internships
and $3,600 for international internships, which
is an amazing asset for Mount Holyoke students.
It is especially allocated for unpaid internships
and gives students more freedom to choose opportunities
they can forward their career.
These are also adjusted for places
with a high cost of living like Paris or New York.
Step one is due Friday, February 16 in 2018,
so put that in your calendars.
But a guaranteed internship is not mandatory by that date,
so it's best just to go to the mandatory meeting in January
and submit an application for funding when you can.
Sorry.
I forgot to advance it.
My specific job spanned a great deal,
as I assessed where best to apply my skills
throughout the summer.
And it changed throughout the summer as well.
Here is another picture of the property.
So this was the house that Dave and Patience live in.
And it's just a beautiful old farmhouse, as well as
what I'm standing in there are field of sunflowers
that we're all blooming around midsummer.
And so each morning, I would take the dog for a walk,
and it was just a lovely way to spend the day.
So what I learned--
my specific job spanned a great deal and changed.
I translated the website and publicity text from English
to French using the skills that I had gained from Montpellier.
And we were able to expand the readership
of the website for La Richariere and advertising
to beyond English-speaking audiences.
Now this English-speaking audiences part
is especially interesting because my English
was very different from my host's English.
And the conversations that we had around that
were not something that I had expected.
I expected coming from a French host family,
where we had so many differences in language
that were drastically different, I
had expected something that was living
with a host family who is British,
it's basically the same language.
It's fine.
But there were really big differences
in grammar structure and vocabulary
that were completely new to me.
And the conversations we had around those
were really eye opening.
And so I also learned the techniques
that they used for maintaining the physical property
and the great care that was taken to make each guest's
experience at La Richariere comfortable and restorative.
Living and working in a different region of France
from Montpellier also afforded me the opportunity
to experience a different way of life
in a village versus a big city.
In Montpellier, I was living on my own
and living the young, single student life.
And so I knew about maybe the nightlife of Montpellier,
where in La Richariere, I knew more about family life
and schools, as I also assisted my hosts
teaching in an English elementary school--
French elementary school, excuse me.
Many of Dave and Patience friends
are also British and have transformed their farming
properties to accommodate tourists as well.
This is also a sign of the times that things
are very much changing in these small villages.
There are dwindling populations of French.
And these villages that you would think
would be the most French places of France
are actually becoming more and more international.
LYNK funding gave me the freedom to choose
anything as an internship, nearly regardless
of compensation.
After my year in Montpellier, I knew
that I wanted to stay abroad, specifically
in France for my internship because I wanted
to continue speaking French.
However, my application process was maybe
a little bit more frantic, and this
is what I was able to create thanks to the LYNK funding.
I learned a lot about French and as
well as the French perspective from another culture
from an English culture.
And I am thankful to LYNK funding
for giving me this opportunity.
[APPLAUSE]