WEP would like to thank all 2011 scholarship applicants for their marvellous efforts - it was a tough choice to select only one winner for each country! WEP is thrilled to announce the winners:

For French-speaking Belgium - Congratulations to Kahli from Sandringham Secondary College (VIC). Kahli enjoys French history as well as dance and art.

And for Italy - Congratulations to Steven from St. John’s Regional College (VIC). Steven competes in Italian poetry competitions and understands the value of knowing more than one language these days.

Thank you to everyone who applied. All applications were of an extremely high standard!

Meet Scholarship Winner Kahli

I am enjoying many aspects of the different subjects in France including dancing, art and the history of France.

Art is a favourite subject of mine. Impressionism is one of my favourite forms of art and I particularly like Claude Monet’s work. French is the second most learned language in the world. It is a lot easier to learn than some other languages, because English has many links to French.

It’s going to be hard to communicate with people in Belgium at the start because I will not be used to speaking French every day. I shall miss the thirty plus degrees of Melbourne’s hot summer days and the three-minute walks from my home to the beach.

As Calisthenics is an Australian only sport I will have to leave it for the year, but I’m sure that I will enjoy discovering new activities and sports in Belgium.

I will also miss typical Australian foods like vegemite and sausages cooked over a hot barbeque.

Meet Scholarship Winner Stephen

Each year, our school competes in a state-wide poetry competition. My Italian teachers give me a poem to memorise and recite in front of judges. This experience was enjoyable and gave me confidence in myself to continue to learn the language.

I grew to love the language! To know more than one language is an advantage with so many different cultures coming together in our societies.

I’m also interested in photography and journalism, and hope that living overseas will enhance my connection with Europe for possible endeavours in the future.

I imagine the most difficult part about living overseas, apart from being separated from family and friends, would be to successfully adapt to a new culture, heritage and cuisine in everyday life. I also expect the first few weeks of school in Italy to be challenging as well.

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