ALBION, Mich. –At this time last year most high school seniors spent their free-time deciding what to wear to Homecoming and where to go to college. Today, eight of those teenagers are first-semester students at Albion College and their time is now taken with preparations for an eight-day journey overseas as members of the Freshman Seminar course Cultures, Communities, and Connections to Albion and France--and Back.

Accompanied by Dr. Diane Guenin-Lelle, Albion College professor of foreign languages, these students will leave Friday, October 9, for Paris and a week-long stay with host families in Grenoble and Noisy-le-Roi, France—the latter a designated Sister City to the City of Albion.

Designed to be more than a visit as wide-eyed tourists in a foreign land, this experience has been structured to be a cultural baptism for the students, emmersing them in the ways of life of modern France.

According to Guenin-Lelle, “this is really field work.” Students will accompany their native hosts throughout the day, observing customs, asking questions and learning how the people of France approach their daily tasks.

“Our cross-cultural discussions will allow us to share information and shape student research for the rest of the semester,” says Guenin-Lelle. “It’s this connection between students and host families that will make our visit so rich, so diverse and dynamic.”

“When there are these personal links, communication grows.”

Along the way students will visit Albion upperclassmen studying at the Université Stendhal Center for French Study in Grenoble. While in Paris, the group will be greeted by Albion College alumni living there.

But the majority of their time away from the States will be spent learning about Noisy-le-Roi, and what makes that community unique. It’s an ironic twist, considering that Guenin-Lelle didn’t recognize the link between Albion and it’s sister city when she began scheduling the Freshman Seminar trip last spring.

“I was thinking more about our connection with Grenoble and our Albion College program there,” says Guenin-Lelle. “But as our connections with Noisy-le-Roi grew over the past few months, it added so much more to our relationships and made them more solid. This connection is the most dynamic element of this program.”

Joining the group is a ninth student, Chelsea Hagler, a sophomore from Burton, who is not enrolled in this Freshman Seminar course. Hagler is an economics and management major, a member of the Gerstacker Institute for Professional Management, and a veteran of two Freshman Seminar courses last year on Germany and Africa. She approached Guenin-Lelle at the beginning of the fall semester and requested to join the group as a chance to better prepare herself for a career in international business.

To assure her capabilities as a functioning member of the traveling party, Hegler is taking an Independent Study course on France with Guenin-Lelle her instructor.

These unique elements are just a sampling of how the College and President Peter T. Mitchell have envisioned Albion to become a leader among national liberal arts institutions, creating opportunities for interdisciplinary study for students with the ambition to learn more than what a traditional education can offer. In Hagler’s instance, this experience will be a stepping stone to her undergraduate research project and honor’s thesis.

The Albion College traveling party will leave campus Friday, October 9, at 3 p.m., depart Metro Airport in Romulus at 7 p.m., bound for Paris, and return in time for Albion College Homecoming celebrations, Saturday, October 17. For more itinerary, click here.

Student Roster - hometown

Lewis Cardenas - Jackson, Mich.
David Fienup - Ann Arbor, Mich.
Chelsea Hagler - Burton, Mich.
Mark Josephs - Harrison Township, Mich.
Sarah Leicher - Ann Arbor, Mich.
Sarah McNitt - Ann Arbor, Mich.
Marissa Miholer - Three River, Mich.
William Montgomery - Garden City, Mich.
Christopher Weiermiller - Grand Blanc, Mich.

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