Studying Abroad in France
Donation protected
Hello!
My name is Amanda and I am a senior at Grand Valley State University. I was initially heistant to set up a page like this, but several friends convinced me so here I am! I am studying to become a high school or middle school French teacher and I am so ridiculously close to finally being done with school that I can taste it. It's been my dream since I was young to travel the world and live somewhere else, and to have as open of a mind as possible. As Maya Angelou said "Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends." There is so much more to the world than what I've seen of it and I am dying to experience it to the fullest.
The program I have been accepted into through my university is the CIDEF program through l'Université catholique de l'Ouest in Angers, France. It begins in February of 2015 and will end in June which means a full five months of adventure! The program specializes in improving the language proficiency of the students enrolled. Part of obtaining my degree and especially my teaching certification is being able to pass the Oral Proficiency Exam. This is especially problematic as my advisors at school have informed me that it is near impossible to pass the OPI without studying abroad and living in France before hand. UCO's language program is probably the most fitting dream of a program that is available.
The largest roadblock in all of this is of course the financial aspect, which is why I decided to make this page to begin with. I have been hunting for the last several months for as many scholarships and grants as I can but unless a miracle comes through, the scholarships and the financial aid I am recieving from my university just aren't going to cut it. My husband and I are trying to save up as much as possible as well, but being a full time student cuts into the amount of hours that I can work in a week. While we are both incredibly lucky to have the jobs we have, when I am in France, I will not be able to work on my student visa and a large portion of the money I need for the program will be going to cover my portion of the bills to account for me not working for five months, in addition to the cost of the program itself. For the sake of transparency the cost breaks down close to this:
$15,000 for the program itself, food, and lodging while in France.
$5,000 to cover my five months of being gone.
The main issue with financial aid is that my husband and I are considered "too stable" to qualify for the pell grant (which is a requirement for about 95% of the major study abroad scholarships) but "not stable enough" to actually afford the trip or get more aid from my university. We are trapped in the middle of being not quite poor enough but too poor as well. It's very difficult.
So far I have about $8,000 saved up through financial aid and scholarships and am working nonstop at saving more.
Thank you and even if you can't donate, simply helping share the page would do wonders! And if you do decide to donate, well you just earned yourself a brand new friend there, buddy.
Love,
Amanda
Below are some idea of my art style for the higher up art related perks:
(Sketch/Doodle)
(detail of a larger image with colour pencil)
(Full Colour Pencil Rendering)
If there is an interest in the art pieces then I will gladly add more tiers of them. I do also tend to specialize more in figure study but I will try anything. =)
My name is Amanda and I am a senior at Grand Valley State University. I was initially heistant to set up a page like this, but several friends convinced me so here I am! I am studying to become a high school or middle school French teacher and I am so ridiculously close to finally being done with school that I can taste it. It's been my dream since I was young to travel the world and live somewhere else, and to have as open of a mind as possible. As Maya Angelou said "Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends." There is so much more to the world than what I've seen of it and I am dying to experience it to the fullest.
The program I have been accepted into through my university is the CIDEF program through l'Université catholique de l'Ouest in Angers, France. It begins in February of 2015 and will end in June which means a full five months of adventure! The program specializes in improving the language proficiency of the students enrolled. Part of obtaining my degree and especially my teaching certification is being able to pass the Oral Proficiency Exam. This is especially problematic as my advisors at school have informed me that it is near impossible to pass the OPI without studying abroad and living in France before hand. UCO's language program is probably the most fitting dream of a program that is available.
The largest roadblock in all of this is of course the financial aspect, which is why I decided to make this page to begin with. I have been hunting for the last several months for as many scholarships and grants as I can but unless a miracle comes through, the scholarships and the financial aid I am recieving from my university just aren't going to cut it. My husband and I are trying to save up as much as possible as well, but being a full time student cuts into the amount of hours that I can work in a week. While we are both incredibly lucky to have the jobs we have, when I am in France, I will not be able to work on my student visa and a large portion of the money I need for the program will be going to cover my portion of the bills to account for me not working for five months, in addition to the cost of the program itself. For the sake of transparency the cost breaks down close to this:
$15,000 for the program itself, food, and lodging while in France.
$5,000 to cover my five months of being gone.
The main issue with financial aid is that my husband and I are considered "too stable" to qualify for the pell grant (which is a requirement for about 95% of the major study abroad scholarships) but "not stable enough" to actually afford the trip or get more aid from my university. We are trapped in the middle of being not quite poor enough but too poor as well. It's very difficult.
So far I have about $8,000 saved up through financial aid and scholarships and am working nonstop at saving more.
Thank you and even if you can't donate, simply helping share the page would do wonders! And if you do decide to donate, well you just earned yourself a brand new friend there, buddy.
Love,
Amanda
Below are some idea of my art style for the higher up art related perks:
(Sketch/Doodle)
(detail of a larger image with colour pencil)
(Full Colour Pencil Rendering)
If there is an interest in the art pieces then I will gladly add more tiers of them. I do also tend to specialize more in figure study but I will try anything. =)
Organiser
Amanda Leigh
Organiser
Nunica, MI
