Double major fulfills childhood dream of learning French
Julia Knies. Courtesy photo
Editor’s note: This story is part of a series of profiles of notable fall 2024 graduates.
“When I was in sixth or seventh grade, I just decided that I needed to know French and I really wanted to learn it,” said Julia Knies, an Arizona native from Cave Creek.
This semester, the double major has made her dream a reality as she graduates with a Bachelor of Arts in French. According to Isaac Joslin, an associate professor of French at ASU’s School of International Letters and Cultures, “She has consistently demonstrated a very advanced capacity to analyze ... literary and cultural works with sensitivity and sophistication.”
Throughout her childhood, Knies took a variety of language classes at school, including Spanish, German, Mandarin and Latin, but none of them captured her interest enough to stick with her long term.
The chance to learn French presented itself when she moved to a new school. She seized the opportunity and she fell in love with the language. According to Knies, what made it even more special was the fact that her best friend also studied French. "So it was something fun for us to do together,” Knies said.
When it came time to apply to colleges, she made the decision to major in French, making it crucial to find a university with a good program. Her high school French teacher, who spoke highly of the French program at Arizona State University, played an important role in Knies’s path to becoming a Sun Devil by encouraging her to choose ASU over other universities.
As a student, Knies discovered a passion for psychology, adding a second major in family and human development at ASU's T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics. “I like it because it approaches psychology from the family perspective and how the family influences an individual. It’s just been really cool to learn about something outside of yourself, but that’s also very applicable to your own life,” she said.
After graduating, Knies wants to explore different fields to determine the best fit for her moving forward. She is considering going to graduate school for social work or mental health counseling, but also plans to intern with her high school French teacher to gain teaching experience.
Read what the new grad has to say about her time at ASU and her words of wisdom for incoming students.
Editor's note: Answers have been edited for length and clarity.
Question: What did you like the most about studying a language?
Answer: I really liked learning another language because it opens a whole new window to the world that gives you another perspective — a different perspective to life — and you get a deeper understanding of other countries.
Studying French has given me an opportunity to learn other languages besides French and English — I can understand Spanish a little bit easier and I'm working on learning that. It's just kind of opened the door to what goes into learning a language and what you can gain from it. It’s been a really cool experience that I am grateful that I had.
Q: Which professor inspired you the most?
A: I would say the most impactful and inspiring was Monsieur Cruse. He is so passionate and I really enjoyed my time learning from him. No matter the topic, his passion and desire to teach us made me want to learn from him.
I loved Madame Bahtchevanova, too. She really encouraged me during the earlier years. Shannon Ditto — she was a graduate student — I had her my sophomore year, and she was so amazing just because, again, she was really, really passionate and encouraged us to learn.
Every French professor is so passionate and encouraging. I’ve learned a lot more history than I would have otherwise because they really care about what they're teaching us, and that motivated me to learn. I just enjoy that the professors give us challenging work, but they do it because they believe in us.
Q: What classes were your favorite?
A: I really enjoyed FRE 305 Readings in French literature with Ditto. It was the first time that I really analyzed French literature, learning the different themes and how they appear. I was able to take a lot away from the class because she broke it down in such a digestible way.
Introduction to Parenting was a favorite just because the content was light and interesting. It was an opportunity for me to reflect on how I was raised and to think about the future: If I were to have children, how would I want to raise them and would it be the same or different?
I also really liked the history of the French language with Professor Cruse and the structure of the French language with Professor Terry.
Q: What was your favorite memory from your last year at ASU?
A: One of my favorite things was sitting outside in different places on campus, enjoying all the birds and all of the trees and paying attention to all of the little things I hadn’t noticed before. This semester I had a class that started at 9 a.m. and a class that started at 4:30 p.m. So I was on campus all day with a huge block of free time from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. But it was fun because I was able to study with my friends, catch up and eat lunch with them and walk around campus a lot. There are so many good spots to sit and enjoy nature and get homework done.
Q: What advice would you give to freshman students?
A: I would say it’s worth taking a second language no matter what your degree is and no matter what the language is because you gain such a different perspective of the world from understanding another language and its culture. If you start when you're 18, by the time you’re 40 you have over 20 years of experience in that language — that’s pretty cool! And, even though it looks good on resumes and everything, it’s really more for yourself. It’s so cool being able to say, “Oh yeah, I know another language."
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