Kenneth Burnell

2018 Gilman Scholar

Major

Occupational Health Science

College

College of Health and Human Sciences

 

Out of everyone in my family, including, four siblings, I will be the first to study abroad overseas. My other trips have been only short vacations. I felt like I took a leap of faith to decide to conquer this challenge. Most of my family are excited for me to travel overseas and experience other cultures. Others, however, did not understand the point of studying abroad and the reasons behind it. They didn’t understand the effect it can have on my future and how it will widen my perspective of other cultures and improve my experience and knowledge in the field of work I wish to be in. Once I explained that studying abroad is highly recommended by most colleges and the effect it can have on my future, they began to understand and show support for my decision.

 

Sharing my Hoosier heritage as a member of the 6th generation member of a farming family with a French farming family as a Gilman Scholar is truly an experience to be had. I chose France as the country in which to study because I would like to learn more about its agriculture and gain firsthand experience through the program I chose. I want to know how France’s agriculture community is unique compared to the world and how it differs from the United States and other countries. To gain personal knowledge by living with my host family, working on their farm will be an awesom­e opportunity to exchange farming experiences. Additionally, I would like to hone my ability to speak French. By immersing myself directly in a French-speaking home, I hope to attain a stronger level of French fluency.

 

I am very interested in traveling and gaining insight into agriculture and food production globally, especially from an agricultural perspective, which fits in with my minors in food safety and agribusiness. As a high school freshman, I traveled to Costa Rica with my Spanish Club. In order to be able to attend this trip, our Spanish Club held numerous fundraisers and I used my own personal savings to pay for this trip. Prior to my freshman year at Purdue, I was able to take a 10-day trip to Vichy, France. Observing the very different cultures of Costa Rica and France was a fascinating experience. I visited Costa Rica’s coffee bean plantations and learned how it is a key part of supporting their economy along with their number one source of income: tourism. In France, I was able to see France's countryside of fields containing crops such as grapes, corn, and sunflowers. Now I wish to learn in deeper detail about France’s agriculture systems. I hope to learn in detail about French and European agriculture while in Toulouse, France. I know that the study abroad program will be a tremendously enlightening experience in my comprehension of French culture, socially, economically, and agriculturally.

 

I will be studying for the first four weeks at the school D'ingénieurs de PURPAN. While I am at PURPAN, I will be taking English-taught classes, including European Agriculture, and French Culture. I will also take a placement test and be put in a French class at an appropriate level for my understanding of the language. Part of the study abroad program includes a hiking trip to the Pyrenees Mountains and visiting Barcelona, Spain. After the first four weeks, I will be assigned to an internship for a host family. My options will include a variety of internships from working in wineries to food production facilities such as dairy, or beef farms. I will be learning French while living there and living with a French-speaking host family. This will enhance my ability to learn French faster with first-hand exposure. My goal is to be trilingual one day, as I have already taken 5 years of Spanish and am studying French independently this year.