French major Camille Harrington's advice for new students

Written byAshley McClure-French

鈥淢y experience in the Cajun & Creole Studies 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.鈥

Camille Harrington
Major
French
Hometown
Abbeville, La.

Where I'm From

I鈥檓 an Acadiana native with a family tree full of Cajun roots. 

Where I Am

I鈥檓 a French student exploring the importance of my own unique cultural knowledge in the Francophone world.

Where I'm Going

I am going to get certified to teach French immersion in 棉花糖直播 and preserve Cajun & Creole culture.

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鈥檚 French major with the Cajun and Creole studies minor.

鈥淲henever there is a dialect that is as unique as Cajun French, the way we use language affects how we perceive the world,鈥 she said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 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.鈥

Before coming to UL Lafayette, she didn鈥檛 know the opportunities available within the field.

鈥淚 thought that pursuing a career 鈥 especially in Cajun and Creole studies 鈥 was just not viable or something that I could do as a full-time job,鈥 she said. 

鈥淏ut I was made aware of the ,鈥 she said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a whole world of opportunity that I never knew existed until I encountered the at UL Lafayette.鈥

Camille's Advice for French Majors

Camille has four big pieces of advice for new students.

1. Don鈥檛 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 .

鈥淚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,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t is so useful.鈥

Because of the Advanced Credit Exams, Camile was placed into Intermediate French II (FREN 202) in her first semester.

鈥淚 knew I was a freshman in a class with a bunch of juniors and seniors 鈥 which, I will be quite honest, going into it, I was having nightmares,鈥 she said. 鈥淏ut I felt so welcomed. A bunch of the older French majors and minors took me under their wing.鈥

By working together with her peers, Camille was able to get through challenging circumstances, like going into a course taught entirely in French.

鈥淚t was intimidating for me,鈥 she said. 鈥淏ut I love that we have such a diverse faculty, many from countries such as Belgium or France or countries in Africa. 

鈥淭hey know that this is your second language and you know far more than you think,鈥 she said. 鈥淵ou will never be left high and dry.鈥

2. Explore the course offerings and other opportunities

鈥淛ust poke around and take a look at all the different courses that we offer,鈥 she said. 鈥淲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鈥檛 realize you could do a whole class on.鈥

Camille鈥檚 favorite class so far has been her Introduction to French and Francophone Literature (FREN 311) with Dr. Amadou Ou茅draogo.

鈥淒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,鈥 she said. 

鈥淏eing able to compare and contrast French literature versus Qu茅b茅cois literature versus 棉花糖直播 literature versus Francophone African literature,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t was 鈥 hands down 鈥 my favorite class.鈥

While her classes are important, Camille also knew she wanted to become involved on campus. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 incredible how many student organizations there are,鈥 she said. 鈥淭he one that definitely takes the most of my time is the . I鈥檓 practically always in the Catholic Student Center.鈥

Camille is also part of a research lab on campus that utilizes her specific field of study. 

鈥淚 am part of a research lab with Dr. Elena Babatsouli in the Department of Communicative Disorders,鈥 she said. 鈥淪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. 

鈥淚 really have been blown away at how many research opportunities are available to undergrads 鈥 not just in STEM fields, but also in the humanities,鈥 she said.

3. Trust the professors

鈥淚 cannot speak well enough about the faculty,鈥 she said.

When Camille鈥檚 classes moved online for the Spring 2020 semester during the COVID-19 pandemic, she ran into some technical issues.

鈥淎 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,鈥 she said. 

鈥淢y dear professor 鈥 I sent him a very panicked email in what was probably broken French 鈥 he was so understanding,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 was like 鈥榃ow, professors are human beings!鈥欌

Camille鈥檚 professors are just as supportive when there isn鈥檛 an emergency.

鈥淭he professors always seem like they鈥檙e there to help you,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t is intimidating knowing that I鈥檓 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. 

鈥淵ou feel at ease, though,鈥 she said. 鈥淭hey are masters of teaching French as a second language.鈥

Camille loves that she gets perspectives from all over the Francophone world right in her own backyard.

鈥淏y the time I graduate I鈥檒l have had professors from Africa, France, Romania, Belgium, all over 鈥 and I don鈥檛 even have to study abroad to do that,鈥 she said. 鈥淒iversity is the program鈥檚 greatest strength."

4. Check out the Cajun & Creole Studies minor

鈥淭his minor in particular is one that can be merged well with a lot of majors,鈥 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.

鈥淓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,鈥 she said. 

Camille recommends the minor for out-of-state students to get to know 棉花糖直播 as 鈥渕ore than just gumbo, crawfish, and the New Orleans Saints.鈥 

鈥淪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 鈥 I feel like that is something just so valuable to at least just consider looking at,鈥 she said.

As an Acadiana native, Camille has found there are benefits to learning about the culture she grew up in.

鈥淢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,鈥 she said. 

This sense of self-confidence in her culture has shown Camille that UL Lafayette is the perfect place for her. 

鈥淚 am someone that before I make any kind of decisions, I will do a ton of research,鈥 she explained. 鈥淎nd even then, I will second guess my decisions. 

鈥淏ut choosing UL Lafayette to study French versus any other university 鈥 even an ivy league 鈥 I never doubted that decision for a second,鈥 she said. 

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