“Au revoir, Nicholls l’universit de l’tat” is what Rocky McKeon will be saying in just a few months. If you do not know what that means just ask him, and he will gladly tell you it means “Goodbye, Nicholls State University” in French.McKeon, who is the only French language sophomore at Nicholls, has recently been awarded a scholarship by CODOFIL, which is the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana. Qualifications for this award include a 3.0 average in French classes and a 3.0 average overall. CODOFIL usually only accepts applications from students in junior or senior standings.

This scholarship not only consists of a monetary award, it also provides for McKeon to spend an academic year at the Universite de Mons-Hainaut in Belgium. There he will be just like any other student and will be expected to handle a full class load.

“I can’t wait to experience communicating with the other people in French,” McKeon said. “And I think my French professor, Dr. Durocher, is excited too. He will have less classes to teach since I am the only sophomore in French.”

“Louisiana’s Cajun language is dying and there is a low number of French teachers,” McKeon said. “I plan on teaching after college to help keep the language alive.”

McKeon, who is a native of Robinson Canal and a graduate of South Terrebonne High School, says he remembers his grandparents speaking French when he was younger, but they did not pass it down to their children.

Nicholls is not offering any French classes for McKeon this summer because he would be the only one in class. McKeon will spend the summer preparing for his year abroad.

McKeon is worried about the future of the languages department at Nicholls. He refers to the language lab as a glorified closet and the computers in it as glorified CD players. “French will only suffer in a environment that does nothing to support foreign languages,” McKeon said. “I applied for the scholarship because next semester Nicholls might not have a place for me.