France? Say what?!?

I'm gonna try to make a long (but very exciting) story as short as possible, so here we go.

So, ever since the beginning of this school year, I've known that I wanted to do some type of summer program this summer, and after having a good look around on the Internet and getting some tips from my teachers, I started getting my applications together for 3 different programs.  One of those programs was a month-long language immersion program in the south of France (Montpellier to be exact).  As exciting as the prospect was, the program was also the most expensive of the three, ringing in at a whopping $7,500!!!  My family definitely cannot afford that at the moment, so I applied for the scholarship and sent it in with high hopes.  They said I had to wait 3 weeks before I would hear anything back from them.

Exactly one week later, I come home from school, and my mom starts getting excited because she sees that there is an email from the program with the subject "Oxbridge Scholarship Results."  She clicked on it and then ran off before she could see anything, telling me to go see what the email said.  At this point, I'm very nervous because I don't know if something went wrong or what.  I hesitantly go to sit down in front of the laptop and see these words: "I am delighted to inform you that you have been awarded the African American Scholarship to attend L'Académie de France, and to express my sincerest congratulations."  This was the point where I just started screaming.  My whole family gathered around the computer and started screaming with me.  It was definitely one of the more exciting moments of the week. :)

So, from what it looks like, I will be spending almost the entire month of July in the south of France, just off the coast of the Mediterranean, learning the beautiful language of French!  This will be my first time going anywhere out of the country, so I'm very excited.  It's such a great opportunity, and I'm really looking forward to learning all about the language and culture of the country of France and seeing the sights.  It's gonna be awesome.  I know it's still a couple months off, but once the time comes, I will try my best to keep you all updated (complete with pictures!).  Until then, au revoir!

Sincerely,A Soon-To-Be World Travelin', Self-Proclaimed Nerd