Megan Russler (PhD, Candidate)

Hailing from my undergraduate institution of Penn State, I came to FSU in the fall of 2006 to start my MA degree in the Modern Languages French Division. From the moment of my arrival, and upon meeting with the professors, I realized that I had struck gold when I had been accepted into the program here. The professors are challenging and brilliant yet personable and warm, and the Winthrop King Institute offers a wide variety of guest lectures from renowned public, political and intellectual personalities from France and all over the world. Through these guest lectures and also through international conferences I have had the chance to meet, among others, film-maker Chantal Briet, politician, author and sociologist Azouz Begag, former interior Minister Pierre Joxe and one of the leading intellectuals in critical theory, Jonathan Culler.

My two years at FSU have been thoroughly rewarding and challenging and I was thrilled when after my very first semester I found out that I had been accepted into the PhD program as well. With a lot of hard-work on my part and much support from my professors, I completed my MA coursework, comprehensive exams and research paper in the spring of 2008. At that moment, I did not think my life could get any better, and then I found out that I had been chosen to be the annual summer intern at France Terre d’Asile in Seine-Saint Denis, just outside of downtown Paris. France Terre d’Asile is a humanitarian organization, which helps people from all over the world who are fleeing their own countries for fear of political or religious persecution.

This internship, which I undertook in the summer of 2008, was directed by Dr. Alec Hargreaves and funded by the Center for Advancement of Human Rights. It was truly life-changing and eye-opening. It facilitated an actual hands on experience with what I have been studying on a more theoretical basis. I learned how France Terre d’Asile works in order to assist asylum seekers into France and I was fortunate enough to be able to meet and help the asylum seekers themselves.

Although I had many tasks to accomplish during my internship: legal translations, teaching French to the asylum seekers and assisting in residential visits, the most rewarding experience of the summer was the cooking workshop that I organized for the asylum seekers. First, I sat down with the four women who would be doing the cooking: three Sri Lankan women and one Pakistani woman. We went over, in French of course, the ingredients and together we wrote out the recipe. Then, with funding from France Terre d’Asile, we bought all the ingredients we would need to make the chicken curry and chicken biryani, traditional dishes of Sri Lanka and Pakistan. These four women spent over 5 hours cooking these delicious meals that over 30 other asylum seekers, my colleagues and I were able to enjoy together. In the end, the many hours of preparation and cooking paid off because not only did the cooking workshop aid with cultural awareness, the sharing of recipes and the camaraderie of working together in one, very small, kitchen, but it also added a bit of cheer into the lives of the asylum seekers who are often bombarded with legal proceedings and medical tests.

The internship with France Terre d’Asile was a hugely rewarding experience and one of the best ways to spend the summer transition from Master’s student to PhD candidate. Now, on the next leg of my academic journey here at FSU, I am working with renewed energy with my professors and continuing to grow as a student.