Published on December 10, 2013  

Two Samford University students have earned top honors in a French language essay contest. Catherine Moore of Memphis, Tenn., and Gabi Kim of Yongin, South Korea, won 1st and 2nd place, respectively, in the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF) National French Week essay contest 2013. Their essays on the topic of “French: Language of the 21st Century” led the university category of the contest.

“I had my accelerated intermediate French 203 students write an essay for the contest as a homework assignment and was very pleased with the results,” said Heather West, assistant professor of French and director of Samford’s Critical Languages Program. Moore and Kim were among five students West selected for the contest. “They are excellent students with a bright future using French in their chosen careers of pharmacy and international relations,” West said.

National French Week seeks to highlight the cuisine, arts, sports, traditions, science, and technology of the thirty-three countries that have French as an official language and of the twenty-six countries and regions that use French as a second or unofficial language. It also seeks to demonstrate to students all the reasons to learn the language and to show them the many career opportunities open to them when they add proficiency in French to their skill set.
 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 5,791 students from 49 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.