Q. Please tell us in a short statement how foreign languages and literatures have affected your profession, your way of looking at the world, and your life. Please mention any special recollections you have about your time studying with us.
While my post-Swarthmore studies and career choices are not directly related to French language or literature, my French background has provided many interesting opportunities in my life. In my graduate studies (in both architecture and business), I have had the opportunity to return to France on several occasions. As an architecture student, I was sent to France by a firm for whom I was interning to buy materials for a project. As an MBA student, I received fellowship to attend a summer program sponsored by the E.U. in Strasbourg and another fellowship to study for a semester at a "grande école de commerce" while simultaneously working for a company in Paris.
My current career goals will most likely not take me abroad again soon. However, I continue to use my language skills on a regular basis with the large network of francophone friends around the world, and more importantly, I carry a broadened world view. I have reflected at length on how studying abroad has allowed me to at least begin to grasp the complexity of differing cultural viewpoints and to make strides toward greater cultural acceptance and tolerance. Given the current tumultuous international climate, I bemoan the fact that our current president is lacking what I find to be such valuable international life experiences.
David Papanikolas,'93 (dpnik@yahoo.com)