Alumni Spotlight
We are so incredibly proud of our alumni who graduate from the French American Academy! To learn more about their journey after the FAA and to celebrate them, we are introducing a new “Alumni Spotlight”, featuring a notable alum each month.
Julian Pilet, Class of 2019
Attended FA: Kindergarten to 8th Grade.
Current School: Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania.
Julian Pilet graduated from the French American Academy 8th grade in 2019. He is now a freshman at Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania.
Tell me about your “bilingual journey” – that is, when and why were you enrolled in the French American Academy, and why did your family choose a bilingual education for you?
“My bilingual journey started the moment I was born; having a French dad, I was immediately assimilated into French culture as I frequently visited my family in France before I even started learning the language. That’s the main reason I was enrolled in the French American Academy when I was five years old: to be able to speak French with my family in France so I could grow closer to them. My family chose an early bilingual education for me also because I would basically be learning French and English simultaneously without being more proficient in one or the other, which, overtime, would help my brain development.”
Sometimes bilingualism benefits us in unforeseen ways … you never know when knowing multiple languages will open the world up unexpectedly. How have you benefited from your bilingual education?
“Being educated in a bilingual environment has benefited me in so many ways. Firstly, it helped me grow simultaneously in American and French culture, which led me to have different interests in both. For example, French culture made me love soccer, and as a result, most of my idols as I was growing up playing soccer were French soccer players and players in Europe that I was introduced to by watching the French national team games and exploring soccer in different European countries. Secondly, my bilingual education helped me understand the relationship between the United States and France, such as in wars, how both languages sometimes intertwine, and how France and the United States affect each other societally. Thirdly, learning French and English helped me to proudly establish myself as a French and American citizen, in which I could speak both languages, have an understanding of both cultures, and delve deeper into my European roots. Finally, my bilingual education encouraged me to learn more languages. I feel like already being bilingual makes learning a third language much easier. Since entering middle school, I have studied Spanish (starting at the FAA), and I have recently been starting to learn Italian and Latin on my own. I have also continued to speak and study French in high school and college, and I plan to minor in French, which makes me incredibly happy as it will help me greatly in my future career.”
Tell me about your interests and academic pursuits.
“As I’ve grown older, I’ve developed an array of interests: I love singing, playing music, playing open-world video games, playing soccer, helping the environment, as well as a few more. I developed all of these interests at the FAA, as I participated in a band in middle school where we practiced and performed, played video games with my friends almost every night, gained my love for soccer as I played on the school soccer team, and the importance of the environment was emphasized there, too, which gave me a sense of duty to protect it. In college, I’m looking to pursue a major in Environmental Science, Biology, or possibly even Botany. I remember being drawn to these fields ever since I started playing Minecraft. I always loved exploring the different biomes and was fascinated by how much different everything in one biome was from the other biomes. I’ve also been surrounded by nature my entire life: when I went to school at the FAA in Bergen County, occasionally, towards the end of the school year when summer was starting, I used to explore the woods behind the school with my friends. This was a core memory of my time there as the woods were filled with thick vegetation which made them feel endless, and I would explore them for hours. I also have a beautiful garden in my backyard, as well as plants inside and outside of my house, which I’ve sometimes helped maintain.”
Can you think of any fond memories, anecdotes, or unforgetable teachers from during your time at the FAA?
“I have plenty of fond memories from during my time at the FAA. One of them was performing 7 Years by Lukas Graham at the winter concert with the band. It was a surreal experience as it was my first time being the lead singer for a song in general. That whole concert was a fond memory, actually. Two other fond memories were performing the seventh-grade play as we spent the whole school year planning it out and we performed it amazingly, and making the eighth-grade short film, in which I played the protagonist and had so much fun recording it.
“I also loved going on overnight trips; my favorite one was going to Arizona for a few days as I’d never been to the west of the U.S., and I got to see the Grand Canyon and the openness of the Mojave Desert.
“I have so many other fond memories at the FAA, but they wouldn’t have been possible without the teachers that made them happen. I had a number of outstanding teachers during my time at the FAA, and one of them was M. Brasseur. M. Brasseur was one of my favorite teachers as he helped me pursue my interests in music: he helped me learn the guitar, he formed the band, he taught me about music history, and he brought me and my classmates on extremely fun trips every so often. He truly made my experience at the FAA so much better than it already was. Another outstanding teacher I had was Mme. Venturelli, who helped me continue my education in French and also helped the class write the seventh-grade play and the eighth-grade short film. She also brought out the creativity in me which gave me a lot of confidence going into tough situations. The last of many unforgettable teachers was Richard, or M. Guyot. Richard was my gym teacher as well as my soccer coach for four years. Richard helped me develop my skills as a goalkeeper and created an unbreakable team bond. He made me love the beautiful game and I will always be grateful to him for that.”
The interview was edited lightly for clarity. All photos courtesy of Julian Pilet.
