Camille Harrington is an Acadiana native who is passionate about learning and teaching others about her culture. She found the perfect way to pursue that passion in UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 French major with the Cajun and Creole studies minor.
杏吧专区淲henever there is a dialect that is as unique as Cajun French, the way we use language affects how we perceive the world,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淭hat杏吧专区檚 why I want to work to really preserve the dialect and continue to develop while also help to preserve the traditions that have just been so heavily commercialized, stereotyped, or just lost.杏吧专区
Before coming to UL Lafayette, she didn杏吧专区檛 know the opportunities available within the field.
杏吧专区淚 thought that pursuing a career 杏吧专区 especially in Cajun and Creole studies 杏吧专区 was just not viable or something that I could do as a full-time job,杏吧专区 she said.
杏吧专区淏ut I was made aware of the ,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淭here杏吧专区檚 a whole world of opportunity that I never knew existed until I encountered the at UL Lafayette.杏吧专区
Camille's Advice for French Majors
Camille has four big pieces of advice for new students.
1. Don杏吧专区檛 be intimidated
With four years of high school French under her belt, Camille tested out of some of her beginner French courses after taking the .
杏吧专区淚f someone is planning on taking any kind of language courses while at UL Lafayette and they already have any degree of knowledge in that language, I recommend they take that exam,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淚t is so useful.杏吧专区
Because of the Advanced Credit Exams, Camile was placed into Intermediate French II (FREN 202) in her first semester.
杏吧专区淚 knew I was a freshman in a class with a bunch of juniors and seniors 杏吧专区 which, I will be quite honest, going into it, I was having nightmares,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淏ut I felt so welcomed. A bunch of the older French majors and minors took me under their wing.杏吧专区
By working together with her peers, Camille was able to get through challenging circumstances, like going into a course taught entirely in French.
杏吧专区淚t was intimidating for me,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淏ut I love that we have such a diverse faculty, many from countries such as Belgium or France or countries in Africa.
杏吧专区淭hey know that this is your second language and you know far more than you think,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淵ou will never be left high and dry.杏吧专区
2. Explore the course offerings and other opportunities
杏吧专区淛ust poke around and take a look at all the different courses that we offer,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淲hen you get to your upper-level courses, there is such a variety of French courses and options for the different electives that you can take. There were some things that I didn杏吧专区檛 realize you could do a whole class on.杏吧专区
Camille杏吧专区檚 favorite class so far has been her Introduction to French and Francophone Literature (FREN 311) with Dr. Amadou Ou茅draogo.
杏吧专区淒r. Ou茅draogo is from a former French colony in Africa, so he was able to give us such a unique perspective, which I especially appreciated because a lot of time Francophone Africa is glossed over in a lot of French studies,杏吧专区 she said.
杏吧专区淏eing able to compare and contrast French literature versus Qu茅b茅cois literature versus Louisiana literature versus Francophone African literature,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淚t was 杏吧专区 hands down 杏吧专区 my favorite class.杏吧专区
While her classes are important, Camille also knew she wanted to become involved on campus.
杏吧专区淚t杏吧专区檚 incredible how many student organizations there are,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淭he one that definitely takes the most of my time is the . I杏吧专区檓 practically always in the Catholic Student Center.杏吧专区
Camille is also part of a research lab on campus that utilizes her specific field of study.
杏吧专区淚 am part of a research lab with Dr. Elena Babatsouli in the Department of Communicative Disorders,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淪he is doing a research project connected to Cajun French, so you have your speech pathology students and a few of us French majors working together.
杏吧专区淚 really have been blown away at how many research opportunities are available to undergrads 杏吧专区 not just in STEM fields, but also in the humanities,杏吧专区 she said.
3. Trust the professors
杏吧专区淚 cannot speak well enough about the faculty,杏吧专区 she said.
When Camille杏吧专区檚 classes moved online for the Spring 2020 semester during the COVID-19 pandemic, she ran into some technical issues.
杏吧专区淎 piece of farm equipment hit our telephone line, which is also our internet line, so I did not have internet for about 24 hours and in that 24 hours we had a test online,杏吧专区 she said.
杏吧专区淢y dear professor 杏吧专区 I sent him a very panicked email in what was probably broken French 杏吧专区 he was so understanding,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淚 was like 杏吧专区榃ow, professors are human beings!杏吧专区櫺影勺ㄇ鴿
Camille杏吧专区檚 professors are just as supportive when there isn杏吧专区檛 an emergency.
杏吧专区淭he professors always seem like they杏吧专区檙e there to help you,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淚t is intimidating knowing that I杏吧专区檓 going to spend the next hour and fifteen minutes trying to make sure I get all the details for my assignments and everything in a language that I am not fluent in yet.
杏吧专区淵ou feel at ease, though,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淭hey are masters of teaching French as a second language.杏吧专区
Camille loves that she gets perspectives from all over the Francophone world right in her own backyard.
杏吧专区淏y the time I graduate I杏吧专区檒l have had professors from Africa, France, Romania, Belgium, all over 杏吧专区 and I don杏吧专区檛 even have to study abroad to do that,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淒iversity is the program杏吧专区檚 greatest strength."
4. Check out the Cajun & Creole Studies minor
杏吧专区淭his minor in particular is one that can be merged well with a lot of majors,杏吧专区 she said.
For Camille, a major in French was a good pairing with the Cajun and Creole Studies minor, but she recommends it for other majors, like music or history, as well.
杏吧专区淓ven if you just need a minor and you have no idea what you want for a minor, take a look at it because there are so many courses offered for it that kind of go under the radar and they are little diamonds in the rough,杏吧专区 she said.
Camille recommends the minor for out-of-state students to get to know Louisiana as 杏吧专区渕ore than just gumbo, crawfish, and the New Orleans Saints.杏吧专区
杏吧专区淪eeing the depth of our culture and how the various indigenous people and people of color as well as the French settlers and the Spanish settlers and how that came together to make one of the most unique cultures that we have in America 杏吧专区 I feel like that is something just so valuable to at least just consider looking at,杏吧专区 she said.
As an Acadiana native, Camille has found there are benefits to learning about the culture she grew up in.
杏吧专区淢y experience in the program has given me a sense of self-confidence because being a Cajun and growing up in the heart of Cajun country, I have a unique experience and knowledge that I can bring to the table especially in the world of Francophone studies,杏吧专区 she said.
This sense of self-confidence in her culture has shown Camille that UL Lafayette is the perfect place for her.
杏吧专区淚 am someone that before I make any kind of decisions, I will do a ton of research,杏吧专区 she explained. 杏吧专区淎nd even then, I will second guess my decisions.
杏吧专区淏ut choosing UL Lafayette to study French versus any other university 杏吧专区 even an ivy league 杏吧专区 I never doubted that decision for a second,杏吧专区 she said.
