Ever since visiting Paris for the first time as a youngster, my love for the city and it’s vibrant culture has only grown more intense. This trip inspired my sustained engagement with French culture and language, and I would like to pursue my passionate interests by reading French at university. Learning more about French theatre, cinema, literature and art, and immersing myself in French culture, is my aim within further education and in this respect I would like to take as much from university life as possible. Being already fluent in French and English means that a wide variety of sources are at my disposal and I look forward to taking full advantage of this academic opportunity and to also partaking in the many extra curricular facets higher education has to offer. During my school career I strove to build up a skill set that will prove indispensable whilst at university, and I have been proactive in my pursuit of and commitment to the study of French culture and history. Taking part in European class, a period at school that widens my knowledge of French politics, art and philosophy, I enjoyed discussing contextual topics with my peers and producing projects as a group. This stimulated my interests further and allowed me to build upon my interpersonal and communication skills. I was asked to head an assignment and I learnt that flexibility and interaction is extremely important to successful teamwork - I would like to apply this knowledge to university projects wherever possible and to build up my leadership skills even further. My communication skills were also bolstered by my work experience at Barrett Home Development as I spent my time moving between departments speaking to and learning from the many employees I met. I also worked in the sales department and enjoyed liaising with clients while shadowing an executive, and this experience taught me much about positive body language and how to interact effectively on a professional level.

Coordinating the school charity fashion show enabled me to hone my organisational skills and to demonstrate the efficiency of my time management and decision making aptitudes. I learnt quickly from my mistakes and took full advantage of the opportunity to thrive under pressure and to put on the best event possible. At the end of the year I will have another chance to develop these skills in relation to event organisation when I manage the planning and its implementation for the school prom.

I hope to partake in event organisation at university and to be a part of the French society, meeting a diverse range of people in the process. Sharing my interests and learning about those of others is a very important part of life and I look forward to positively contributing to my friendship group in this way. Coming from a multicultural background I enjoy having friends and acquaintances from many different upbringings and hope to continue this at university and to encourage social and cultural diversity.

I highly anticipate learning more about French literature and cinema. I often attend the French Cineluminiere to watch films, my current favourite being Paris by Cedric Klapisch. I have an insatiable interest in literature and have read, among others, Moliere’s Dom Juan and Stendhal’s Le Rouge et le Noir; The historical and mythological themes in these works fascinated me. Alongside my enjoyment of fiction, I also read Le Canard Enchaine and am very fond of its satirical content and style of writing. I would like to work at the student newspaper whilst at university and to develop my writing skills further, perhaps creating some satirical content would also enable me to use my creative flair and to entertain others.

During my time at university increasing and broadening my pre-existing skills is very much a priority and I will put much enthusiasm into partaking as actively as possible with university life and all it has to offer. The skill set I developed at school and during my work experience will benefit me hugely when faced with the challenges of further education and I hope to overcome these with confidence and motivation. I also hope to develop my knowledge of my chosen subject and hope to be able to take both educational and leisure trips to France to enjoy all these experiences, which will no doubt supplement and assist my studies.