Junior Kelsey Blanchard went on a trip to Quebec, Canada last February before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Blanchard’s motivation to go to Quebec was her interest in the French language and culture. She said, “I wanted to experience some of the French culture that we had been recently learning about, and I wanted a chance to be able to use some of the language there, too.”

When Blanchard first arrived in Quebec, she described Quebec as a “cold” and “beautiful” city. “My first impression was that it was cold, a lot colder than Mayfield when we left [for the trip], but my second impression was that it was a really beautiful city,” she said.

Blanchard explored different places in Quebec. She said, “We did some tours of the area near the hotel we were staying at. They have this yearly event called Carnival where there were some small fun activities to do.”

Blanchard also participated in some mobile outdoor activities in Quebec. “We made some frozen popsicle sticks in the snow, went snowshoeing, tobogganing, and tubing,” she said.

Blanchard went on this trip with her French teacher and her close friends, and she is thankful for the memories that she made with them. She said, “I’ll never forget the memories I made with my friends there.”

As of now, Blanchard doesn’t plan on doing anything with French in her future but she believes that having a second language is better than one. “It’s just really good to know a second language offhand,” she said.

Overall, Blanchard feels grateful for having the opportunity to go to Quebec. She said, “It was nice to just be able to experience a different culture than the one that I am from, and that’s definitely something that I’ll remember.”