French Revolution

March 16, 2010

Angelia Tran, business manager  

Filed under Opinions

Someone should have included a fair warning. Someone should have pulled them aside before they boarded the plane and irreversibly left. Someone should have broadcasted the information loud in clear in the simplest way so that even an eight-year-old would have understood. Someone should have said something. Surely, they deserved one.

But nobody did.

In some ways, no one can be blamed for neglecting to warn the French male exchange students. It is a perplexing situation they bring to our Pres community. Their presence guarantees hundreds of girls a cultural experience, but is it the right kind? It seems that if the Frenchies were to truly experience authentic Pres culture, they would see us in all our messy-haired, slipper-wearing, makeup-free glory.  But instead, our guests are met with clusters of preening girls in and out of the classrooms during the days they are here.

It’s pretty funny to watch.  Every year as winter starts to blend in spring, the unsuspecting male French students come to Pres. They come unaware of the revolution they will start. It starts before their first footsteps even fall upon the girls-only school grounds. Once the announcement that they, those celebrated male exchange students, are coming, the student body reacts as if someone has just announced that tomorrow will be an extra day off. An excited buzz electrifies conversations in the halls as students file out and go home. The topic is obvious: Do you know who’s hosting a guy this year? Do you think there’s going to be any cute ones? O-M-G, what should I wear?!

Some students will go home to iron and straighten those long ago softened pleats of their plaid skirts. Others will actually finish homework in time and sleep early as they set their alarms an extra fifteen to thirty minutes early. Carefully applied eyeshadow will be applied to hide those dark, baggy effects from the last minute cramming of integrals, anaphase and comma rules. Unruly hair that hasn’t met a hairbrush since Christmas will be tackled. Legs will be shaven for the first time since Black and White.  Rather than spontaneous and unconcerned attire, girls suddenly care.

After all, the day the French exchange students arrive will not be any ordinary day. No, out of 180 school days, the next day will be the first of five or so days when those of the male, teenage species can freely roam the halls. For the Pres student body, it is as much of a culture shock as it for our guests. The halls are forbidden territory for most of the teenage population with a Y chromosome.  Those brave souls who attempt to breach the borders of the foyer doors are usually politely shown the way back out. But, no, these French exchange boys will be met with not the exit door, but teachers asking for introductions as if they were a shadow. For the students, the fact that these boys are French adds a sweet flair like the addition of chocolate to an ordinary croissant. There is mystery! There is allure! And oh la la, they speak the language of love!

The causes of this one-week revolution of the Pres student body do not know that they are the cause, however. The male French exchange students innocently come wandering into our halls one not-so average morning. They see girls with shining brushed hair, ironed skirts, and shaved legs. For them, this is the average Pres girl. They have not seen what was before their arrival to know what average, pre-exchange-students Pres culture is truly like.  In the next few days, these unsuspecting boys will see the polished Pres girls as they slow down in the hallways to catch a glimpse of their male faces. There will be girls the boys have never met greeting them suddenly by name in the center during lunch. More girls they have never met will ask if they can take a picture with them.

So what’s the solution?  Could Mrs. Stampfl make the arrival of the French students a surprise?  Given that she has to arrange housing for all of them, probably not. Could the teachers be allowed to give detentions for excessive giggling or hair-tossing?  That seems pretty unlikely, too.

But what if Pres allowed more male teenagers – and American ones, not just French – into the Presentation culture? What if we didn’t freak out every time a guy stepped onto the front lawn?  What if, instead of showing them the door, we welcomed them and stopped treating them like potential threats to our chastity?  Constant exposure to the teenage male presence would lessen the dramatic reactions of male students on campus. Our palms could stop suspiciously getting damp. We could stop giggling hysterically when a male voice answers a question in class.

But since allowing boys on campus isn’t on the agenda, for now, all we have is our two weeks where French boys think that Pres girls are silly, pretty, flirtatious and empty-headed.  And isn’t that the kind of culture we should be fostering?

Let the French Revolution begin.

 Email This Story        Print This Story      

Tags: 2010, Angelia Tran, exchange students, france, Opinions, Pres, presentation voice