On Friday, March 27 and Saturday, 28, 21 French students from George Ranch, including moi, competed in the 51^st annual Texas French Symposium. I know what you’re thinking. I’ve never even heard of that?

Imagine a bunch of high schoolers walking around in nice clothes practicing their vocal solos, instrumental groups, poetry, prose, etc…all in French. It’s the equivalent of a UIL competition, but all the events are completely in French. This year was my first time at this event, and I was surprised by the number of schools and students who attended from all over Texas. There is a wide array of events to choose from, all falling into one of three categories: musical, academic, and art.

In most of the events, the students compete once at the preliminary level, then, if they did well enough, again at the semi-final level, then, lastly, at the final level. It’s very difficult to advance to the final level, but we had two of our students make it this year: Cara Coffman (Sophomore, Level 4), and Alessandra Jara (Junior, Level 5/6).

While you’re not competing, you can watch the French Film Festival, complete the Scavenger Hunt, check out the Chalk Art contest, and see the art that was entered into the art competitions. Another fun event is the dance on Saturday night. Many of the students get together to dance to some great music and get to know each other. There’s so much to do that the 14-hour day goes by in the blink of an eye.

At the awards ceremony on Saturday night, which ends the competition, the students have the opportunity to see the top-scoring musical competitors perform, and let me tell you, there are some talented musicians at this event.

If you’re interested in attending French Symposium, you should think about taking French for your language credit. You can compete no matter what your level is: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5/6, or Experienced. If you have already taken a French class to get your language credit and are no longer enrolled in French, you can still compete! Lastly, if you are a fluent French speaker who has no interest in taking a French class (which would make no sense, but whatever) you can still attend Symposium and compete at the Experienced level! If you have any interest in competing at Symposium, talk to Dr. LeBoeuf (I promise she won’t bite) or your counselor to enroll in a French course next year.