India Pearman and Maysen Marolda
Features and Opinion Editors
Senior Katherine Harfouch says au revoir to Manhattan Beach and bonjour to the French countryside, embarking on a gap year.
At the end of her junior year, Harfouch decided that she did not want to apply to college and instead pursue a gap year. With friend and Mira Costa alumnus Lydia Hirsch, Harfouch will depart for France this Sep. and plans to return in Dec. Harfouch and Hirsch are going to the northeast of France with a program called WorkAway, which is the world’s leading community for volunteering, working and cultural exchange. Throughout their time in France, the two will stay with multiple host families and immerse themselves in the French lifestyle.
“I decided to take a gap year towards the end of junior year because I was thinking about applying to colleges and it wasn’t the best choice for me because I need a break from academics,” Harfouch said.
Harfouch through about the program WorkAway through Hirsch, who was introduced to the program at Mills College. Hirsch decided that by taking a semester off from college, she would be able to gain valuable insight into a new culture that would help her in her studies at Mills College. Hirsch then asked Harfouch if she would be interested in joining her, and Harfouch decided that she wanted to pursue a gap year.
“I was apprehensive to say yes to Lydia at first because so many Costa people go directly to college after high school, so I was worried that I would fall behind,” Harfouch said. “But, I am so excited to spend a year in Europe and experience a lifestyle that is different than anything I have ever experienced before.”
In exchange for room and board, Harfouch and Mills will complete a variety of tasks around their French family’s household. These tasks include tending to the vegetable garden, working on small farms, and cleaning the house. Also, if the family has children, she will aid in taking care of them too.
Harfouch is currently a french student at Costa, and Hirsch is studying French at Mills College. After the gap year, Harfouch plans on studying French and Linguistics in college. Later in life, Harfouch said she plans to either teach a foreign language in the US or travel to other countries teaching english.
“The purpose of [WorkAway] is for a cultural exchange between the hosts and the people who travel to work away with the family,”
Harfouch is eager to become fluent in French throughout her stay in France. However, she said that she is nervous that her hosts families will want to talk to her in English in order to make the stay as comfortable as possible, but she prefers to talk in French the entire time.
“My desire is to become fluent in French, and I think that this opportunity will allow me to achieve that goal,” Harfouch said. “Although it may be hard to communicate in French at first, I am confident that the French I have learned at Costa will allow me to communicate smoothly with my host family.”
After Harfouch’s stay in France for four months, she plans to travel to Germany and participate in another WorkAway program. Harfouch has always been interested in learning German, and believes that this experience will lay the groundwork for her German studies.
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