Local students win French essay contest scholarships

Dakota Crossing

St. Vital

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/04/2024 (644 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Sometimes, having a way with words can pay off.

Two local high school students recently won $1,500 scholarships in a national essay contest sponsored by French for the Future, an organization which aims to promote “self-confidence, leadership, and a passion for French and francophone cultures.” Nearly 450 students submitted essays based on the idea of convincing the 2024 Olympic committee to include a new discipline for games, which would be the student’s own “incredible talent.”

“With the nature of the theme, we were anticipating imaginative proposals,” said Geneviève Gobeil, program manager at French for the Future in a statement. “Even with that expectation, we were surprised by the creativity of the submissions! With each new essay we received, we wondered: what will the discipline proposed be this time?”

Hélène Marcoux, a Grade 12 student at Centre scolaire Léo-Rémillard, won a $1,500 scholarship in the French as a first language category for her essay on why ballet should be in the Olympics.

“I kept seeing, as a child, there were so many disciplines in the Olympics. I was like, ‘Wow, dancers are athletes, too,’” explained Marcoux, a lifelong ballet dancer. “Break dancing was added, and I was like, ‘We should discuss this.’”

Marcoux entered the contest after seeing a post about it on social media.

“I really just wanted to see what would happen,” she said. “Now I feel like, maybe writing is a talent I might have too that I didn’t know I had. I found out I was pretty good at coming up with arguments and explaining myself.”

The scholarship will help with her tuition next year, as Marcoux plans to take University 1 courses at Université de Saint-Boniface.

Meanwhile, Paige Fontaine, a Grade 12 student at Collège Jeanne-Sauvé, won a $1,500 scholarship in the French as a second language category. Fontaine heard about the opportunity while researching scholarships.

“Since I am a French immersion student … considering university in French, I decided that this scholarship would be a perfect opportunity to put my French skills to the test,” said Fontaine, who wrote her essay about woodcarving.

“A few years ago, my grandpa taught me how to wood-carve and I thought that that would be the perfect subject of my essay since, not only is it something that I enjoy doing, it is also very unique,” Fontaine said. “Woodcarving isn’t a skill for everyone, therefore it makes the talent more interesting — the many benefits that woodcarving has, and how the final piece itself is something that you don’t want to miss.”

The scholarship not only provided Fontaine with funds for post-secondary education, but also a confidence boost.

“This (shows) that I can perform well in my second language … and has given me more confidence in my French abilities,” she said. “Due to this, I feel more confident that I want to pursue my studies in a French environment so that I can continue being fluent in both French and English.”