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01 March 2021

From Study Abroad to Graduate School! #HogsAbroad in France

From study abroad to Graduate School: a story in 4 photos!

Jordan Fontenot studied abroad twice during her undergraduate career, and loved it so much that she went on to pursue her master's degree in French at the U of A! We caught up with Jordan on some of her favorite memories and reflections from study abroad.

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Me and my first host family celebrating Bastille Day 2018 at a music festival.

Me in front of the chateau located just 5 minutes down the road from my host mom’s apartment during my second stay. I absolutely loved wandering the streets and parks around here to see all the details of this beautiful structure. My favorite crepe shop was just across the street with a perfect view for studying!

A picture of a few friends and I visiting Toulouse seeing the square right where I stayed on my very first trip to France on the faculty led program, it was a great full circle moment to be back again!

 My best friend and I actually met up on one of my program’s weekend excursions! She was studying in Spain at the same time so we were able to get together several times throughout the semester which was one of the best parts for sure!

These trips were truly some of the most amazing times of my life. My favorite experience overall was probably having the opportunity to be in France to watch them win the World Cup in 2018! It was a celebration unlike anything I have ever seen before and I am forever grateful to have been there. 

I learned so much about myself in terms of independence and handling new experiences all on my own (particularly troubleshooting travel issues in another language as from the time I left the US up until my return, not a single trip went smoothly!) I’ve studied French for 15 years now and nothing cemented my learning as much as these trips. After the first month program I immediately knew I had to find my way back to learn as much as possible! 

These trips also helped me decide to pursue graduate school in order to further my learning even more and hopefully put me in a position to return abroad to teach English. On my second trip I was able to return to see my first host family and practice my French which had greatly improved since my first visit! I still maintain relationships with both my host families as well as several friends I met abroad and when it is safe to visit again, I plan to make a trip to visit them!

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Jordan Fontenot, class of 2020 (French & Communication), Summer 2018 and Fall 2019 in France

Learn more about Jordan's Faculty-Led: French in Perpignan program.

Learn more about Jordan's semester in Pau through USAC.

You can start planning your adventure abroad today! Dive in to our Explore page at https://studyabroad.uark.edu/explore/index.php, and start your program search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/