The students arrived at the University of Alabama with minutes to spare before the opening ceremony. They piled into the front row, listened to the announcements, and, once called, stood up momentarily to give a chant before being dismissed to take part in their individual competitions.

For Bob Jones, this French Convention was a success with a total of 27 awards including two “Grands Prix” or “Grand Prizes,” which means that those performances were especially extraordinary. 

Audrey Patton received a Grands Prix for her original art piece, and the choral group that concluded of Julia Pimmel, Sydney Baumbach, Reece Shepard, and Adam Mercier also received the highest honor.

“The group songs are always the absolute best part because they’re usually pretty good. If they are musically good, they’re actually funny. If you’re thinking of going, don’t worry about getting awards, they don’t really mean anything. Just have fun. And watch the group songs,” says Junior, Lauren Williams.

The students made and kept the pledge to stay in the French language all day included: Kyle Kingston, Lenora Lee, Sophia Koontz, Thais Arslanbekov, Sydney Baumbach, Marielle Baumgartner, and Morgan Butler.

Those who participated in the pledge expressed that it was one of their favorite parts of the entire day. Maelee Hamlett stated that “staying in the language all day was incredible to witness and it is so much fun to come together with so many other French speakers in the state.” 

Junior Sydney Baumbach shared, “I enjoyed speaking in French all day, and to someone who wasn’t sure about going I would definitely encourage them to go and experience the multitude of resources that convention provides.”  Another Junior, Lenora Lee similarly said that her favorite part of convention was “the experience, and pushing yourself to the limits of French. I didn’t know that I could stay in French the whole day, even if it did consist of a lot of ‘comment dit ons’ and ‘quoi’s?”

Overall, this French Convention was a great experience and overwhelming success. Congratulations to everyone who went and competed, and we hope to see you next year.