Alumni Focus

ALUMNI IN THE ARTS

Wilhelmina Peace ‘08

When did you attend the Lycée International?

I began at the Lycée International in 1996 at the tender age of six. I graduated in 2008, after a very challenging few years preparing for the behemoth of the Bac.

Please give a quick synopsis of your journey after the Lycée.

I took a gap year after graduation and worked in a café in the heart of Paris. I then relocated to Belfast to study cultural anthropology at Queens University. Shortly after getting my Bachelor’s degree, I found out I was pregnant. My son Silas came to me as a blessing and a bomb. I spent nearly all my 20s raising him, taking on odd hospitality jobs and trying to tune out the destructive relationship I had with his father. In the midst of this, I came to the blinding realization that I wanted to be an artist. I began to treat my arts practice as an actual job, despite the fact that it brought me zero financial income. Any chance I got, I was either drawing or learning about art. Very slowly, I built up my skills and my confidence and began to submit my works to group shows. I started working in Belfast’s Metropolitan Arts Centre (MAC) so I could be immersed in art. After building up a substantial body of work, I was accepted to the Fine Arts program at Ulster University and quickly gravitated towards printmaking. Around the same time, serendipity led me to become part of an incredible artist community in the heart of Belfast called Vault Artist Studios. When I began to lean more into my arts practice, I finally had the strength to end my very broken relationship. Although I had vowed to give love a rest, I met someone who opened my heart again and empowered me to embrace my creative potential to its fullest. We now have a little baby boy named Ilan who is the incarnation of bliss.

What is your current profession? What in particular do you enjoy about your field?

The umbrella term for what I do is “freelance visual artist.” I necessarily have to create my own opportunities if I am to stay afloat. For example, I’ve created independent art courses, given workshops from my studio, made art for festivals, designed posters, illustrated book covers, sold work at markets and fairs, and submitted my work to galleries. Being freelance means you have to be incredibly outgoing and organized, and this is even more true when you are an artist. The business of being an artist can be divided into three strands. The first is creating new, exciting and challenging bodies of work. The second is sharing your work and skills through galleries, social media, shows and fairs as well as teaching courses, giving “artist talks” and facilitating workshops. The final component is writing up funding applications. Where I am, based in the UK, there are countless opportunities to apply for government or arts council funds. These provide the money for me to buy materials and equipment, create new projects, and experiment with new ideas and collaborations.

I can’t pinpoint when my interest in art started because it has always been there. I can, however, summon a couple of instances when I met the right people in the right place that catapulted me in exactly the right direction. I formed some valuable connections at mother and toddler groups in Belfast. One artist mother invited me to the Vault when it was still in its embryonic state and I have been devoted to this creative community ever since. Another time I volunteered in a printmaking workshop outside of the city. I volunteered because I thought it would allow me to get my foot in the door, network, learn tricks of the trade, have access to equipment, help on various projects, and steep in a world that I was certain I wanted to be part of. This proved to be a very wise move because in addition to all the above, it has also put me on the radar and offered me exciting new opportunities to work with local schools.

I enjoy absolutely everything about my work but if I had to pick one thing in particular, it would be the perpetual dance between solitude and sociability. Both are necessary to my practice as an artist and I enjoy trying to find a balance between the two.

If you had the choice, would you do it the same way again?

I think about this question a lot. I have absolutely no regrets about my kids, but I must say to the young adults and teenagers reading this (parenthood spoiler): it’s hard. So hard. Give yourself the chance to grow and make mistakes. Otherwise you’ll make them while running after a toddler. As for me, I guess I really could not have done this any other way. Every choice I made, the good ones, the bad ones, the ugly ones...they all brought me to who I am today and for that I am grateful. Most of life’s defining lessons are learnt the hard way. But I repeat to all you young readers, just wait before committing to parenthood.

What do you feel you gained from your American Section experience that has carried over into your current life or driven your life choices?

In the classroom, I learned how to write, how to think critically about a piece of work or a historical event, how to dissect a question in order to answer it pertinently, how to fall in love with literature, and how to present information and material in an engaging way. Learning how to write a proper essay can seem tedious and aggravating, but I am so glad I picked up that skill. I was shocked and frustrated at first by how much writing is required from visual artists (I draw pictures, I don’t write books!) but when I finally accepted that it was an immovable pillar of the artist’s career, I came to enjoy writing and the constant challenge to describe and explain my ideas in as concise and clear a way as possible.

Another thing I gained from my experience in the American Section is grit. To this day, I have never met any kids that work harder than the Lycée students. As hard as it can be to have nine hour days and astronomical amounts of homework, it does pay off in the long run. Grit is of paramount importance to artists because we need to keep working in spite of so many things: minimal financial return at the beginning of our careers, self-doubt, lack of inspiration, the pen running out of ink... Artists, like the Lycée students, are some of the hardest working people you will ever meet. They work like their lives depend on it because, well, it does.

Do you have any advice for current students who might be interested in going into your profession? Is there anything they could do to prepare for it now?

My first word of advice is just do it. If you want to be an artist and you know in your heart of hearts that that is what you want to do – just do it. Do not wait for validation from anybody else. Do not do a job that is “almost” what you want to do but “not quite.” That’s not to say you need to shun all jobs that are not exactly what you want to do -- you may have to take on a couple to build up some income, but always keep your eyes on the prize, be clear about what you want, and make very clear plans on how you are going to get there. If you set your goals right, everything will fall into place and you will feel fulfilled with each step you take towards them. So, be bold! If you want to have a solo show in the MoMA before you’re 40, go for it, plan for it and expect that of yourself. You can do it. You are not separated from your goals by a number of years but only by a number of actions.

Another word of advice is to embrace failure and expect rejection. The art world is ruthless. If you are doing things right, you will experience failure, you will experience rejection and disappointment, you will feel very lost at times, and you will suffer from imposter syndrome. Every artist does. A failure does not mean that you are a failure, it only means that you tried. Not trying is the real failure. Anything else you would like to add? This bit is where I say what I wish I had heard when I was at the Lycée, and it goes out to parents as well as students. If you are struggling to stay interested in your core studies, if you are nursing a rebellious streak and feeling like ditching everything, just hang on and try some kind of creative activity. Find people who make beautiful things and hang out with them for a bit. It might change everything for the better. Finally, I want to blow apart the myth of the starving artist. This may be somewhat contentious because a lot of artists do experience financial hardship at some point in their lives. But do not be dissuaded to go into an arts career because there is no money in it. It will take hard work, exceptional organizational skills, courage, resilience, an iron will, and an unshakeable belief in yourself--but it is achievable. Cultivate business sense. Do not be ashamed to want to make money and want to make art. The two are not mutually exclusive, quite the contrary. If you want to be an artist and you feel like you have something to say, just start small. Rome was not built in a day. Practice. Very soon you will be creating work that says more than you could ever articulate with words. The world needs your vision, so start exploring it now, take creative risks and just see what happens!

Rebecca Lafon ‘15

When did you attend the Lycée

International? I attended the Lycée International from CM1 to Terminale and graduated in 2015. My brother and I joined the American Section because we had become bilingual after living three years in Batesville, IN. We moved there when I was only five years old, at which point your vocal cords don’t struggle to get a new accent.

Please give a quick synopsis of your journey after the Lycée?

After graduating from the the Lycée, I attended Middlebury College in Vermont. I craved real winter (be careful what you wish for) and wanted to attend a school that allowed me to pursue very different paths. I intended to pursue a double major in Organic Chemistry and Theatre and ended up graduating with a double major in Political Science and Theatre, with a joint focus in Acting and Costume Design. While reflecting on my time in college, I realized some of the best experiences I had were in the filmmaking world. I had audited a filmmaking course, used my last month of college to create a short film, Breech, which won several awards, and interned for two filmmakers in Los Angeles. With this in mind, I decided to apply to graduate cinema studies. I was accepted into the American Film Institute Conservatory, but COVID hit and everything was delayed. I made the most of the year off and took on a new project: a documentary feature on domestic violence during COVID in France. Adeline du Crest ’15 and I built it from the ground up. We interviewed about 15 professionals from different sectors dedicated to supporting victims of domestic violence. The film is currently being shown in festivals. What is your current profession? I am currently a fulltime student at the American Film Institute Conservatory in the producing field. Most of my classes are dedicated to the creative work of the producer: find new source materials or original ideas, pitch films, read and write scripts, give creative notes to screenwriters, build a creative team, etc. While it is very challenging, I doubt I could find the same thrill, dedication, and joy anywhere else. As a producing “fellow” I will graduate from AFI with five-six produced short films, two feature film outlines, and a complete feature script to my name.

Can you identify the events that led you to where you are / what you are doing now?

I think the main thing that got me to where I am now was reaching out to the visiting professionals who came to my college for a week and asking them to take me as an intern. It showed me what the field was truly like and some ways for me to become a part of it. Of course, there were several events that led me there, most of which were interactions with professors and people I admired. Having positive feedback and encouragement when I took risks in creative assignments gave me the courage to seize opportunities.

What in particular do you enjoy about your field?

I am lucky enough to be surrounded by equally passionate people in my field. The level of collaboration I have experienced in filmmaking is incomparable. Truly nothing can get done without everyone putting in their best effort. I love that. Another big plus is waking up every morning knowing I have about 10-20 things to get done that will get me closer to having produced a film. The thrill of that is enough to keep me actively working for weeks at a time without taking a break.

If you had the choice, would you do it the same way again?

That’s a tough question, because you ask yourself very different questions in highschool than you do when you’re past that point in your life. I used to ask myself: What do I want to become? How do I make myself proud? Who am I? Whereas now most of my questions sound a little like this: Is this script working? How is catering going to fit in the budget? When’s the last time I asked my friend how they were doing? When do my director’s and cinematographer’s schedules line up? In other words, we tend to go from questions directed at ourselves to questions directed at others or our work. With this in mind, I’d want to change everything, go back and answer those questions for myself to save some time, but the truth is high-school and undergraduate studies are there for you to ask these questions and it’s important to take the time to answer them. It’s because I had the time to question myself that I now get to direct my questions towards my work and my surroundings.

What do you feel you gained from your American Section experience that has carried over into your current life or driven your life choices?

The American Section gave me the right foundations, especially because I chose to go to the US after high-school. The American and French school systems are very different, and the American Section was closest in its methodology to US colleges. I would add that while I didn’t particularly enjoy it while I was a student, I now see the positive impact of the workload we had as Section students. The classes themselves were also important. I adored every minute of literature classes and text analysis, which are now the foundation of my work as a producer. I confess that I dreaded attending history and geography classes...yet I went on to study Political Science at Middlebury College. All this to say, the love the faculty put into teaching us at the Lycée ultimately had a great impact on the choices I made.

Do you have any advice for current students who might be interested in going into your profession? Is there anything they could do to prepare for it now?

It’s difficult to prepare for a creative field, because the myth tells us it all relies on inspiration, talent, and gift, all of which feel out of our control. While these do help, they aren’t necessarily what will build a career or make you a good filmmaker (or a good creator in general). Inspiration can be found if you learn how to search for it. It’s elusive and frustrating, but you can find it again by prompting yourself to find new ideas, new shapes, new points of view. Go on a walk, that’s step one to feeding your creative needs. Then there is talent, what I consider the forbidden word of my field. Don’t strive to be the talented artist, instead strive to be the working artist. Use every assignment you get as a way of strengthening your workload capacity. There is so much effort needed ahead, but you’ll learn to appreciate that. The mountain can be a means to getting to the other side of it, or a hike up to a beautiful view. It’s all dependent on the perspective you use.

Finally, be open and daring. Look for the opportunity, for the silver lining. Reach out to those you admire and to those you believe you can learn from. If your gut tells you to feel intimidated, that’s a good sign you should take a leap. The filmmaking world is the best example of this: not everything is your “big break,” but everything has the potential to be. I strongly believe that’s true of any field in the sense that showing you are open to new things, new people, and new challenges, will ultimately open doors.

Sonia Lange ‘11

When did you attend the Lycée International?

I attended the Lycée International from 2003 as a Lower School externé until 2011, when I graduated.

Please give a quick synopsis of your journey after the Lycée?

My parcours mainly consists of “falling forward.” After attending the Lycée International, I studied at the Winchester School of Art, which is part of the University of Southampton, in a Graphic Arts course. I wanted to study photography but feared the job market would be too competitive. Motion graphics was a new discipline at the time and the pathway had only started the year before. My dad pointed out that screens were popping up everywhere (cafés, public transportation, stores) and there would be a need to populate those screens with animated content. I chose motion graphics because it’s a combination of graphic design, illustration, and photography.

After graduating, I travelled to Zimbabwe then to South Africa, where I got an internship making graphics for big events. When I returned to France, I worked part-time for an artist as a digital creator. Meanwhile, I enrolled in an online course to refine my animation knowledge (again the entire discipline was very new, so the community online was instrumental to figuring things out technically and professionally). I worked for several years as a motion designer in Paris for agencies and freelancing. A highlight was animating content for journalists at Franceinfo. I then moved to Johannesburg for one year, where I was freelancing for French clients remotely, and collaborated with my previous South African colleagues. When I returned to France, I continued to freelance and started a Youtube channel called Copycat Motion Design, to discover more about motion design as a craft and help guide designers during the decision-making process.

What is your current profession? Can you identify the events that led you to where you are/what you are doing now?

I was hired as a senior animator at a video production company, Somersault, in Cambridge last year. I live in Bath so I work for them remotely and visit them when Covid allows it. My strength was that I had a lot of experience freelancing and that gave me a strong work ethic for professionalism and business. I could deal directly with clients but had also stayed up-to-date with animation methods and techniques. While I was freelancing, I was a one-woman show. I had already dipped my toes into all the different roles around video production. What I love about the field is the fun and enthusiasm of creating. If you push yourself, you can always be challenged and reach new levels. I don’t feel like I’m anywhere near the best I can be, and I’ve been in the industry for several years now. I am a senior animator and come in as a creative lead on projects now, but I’m working my way up to becoming a creative director in several years.

If you had the choice, would you do it the same way again?

I wish I knew how much business knowledge you need to be a freelancer. Art school didn’t teach me business and it’s wrong to think that any creative job doesn’t require business and marketing skills. You need to market yourself, and I’m not very good at that.

What do you feel you gained from your American Section experience that has carried over into your current life or driven your life choices?

Being international opens a lot of doors, you can choose what country you want to live and work in or easily adapt to different people and customs. Being at the Lycée International was like mental gymnastics when you had to switch and perform in different languages every day. That taught me how to adapt quickly and gave me a great global perspective on how the world works.

Do you have any advice for current students who might be interested in going into your profession? Is there anything they could do to prepare for it now?

For motion design, I would recommend brushing up on business, marketing, and learn to love math. Because it’s a technical practice, math is everywhere in motion design and it’s even better if you enjoy coding. Also, a hybrid type of learning, university combined with online courses, is the best way to go, in my opinion. Anything else you would like to add? Motion design is not an obvious choice for a career but it’s a booming industry and it’s very fun.

Solmy Lee ‘09

When did you attend the Lycée International?

My father was a South Korean diplomat, so I grew up moving regularly. In 2004, we were transferred to Paris and my parents and one of my brothers (who also attended the Lycée) discovered the Lycée campus on their way to visit houses. They spontaneously visited the American Section and that visit turned into a fruitful conversation about admissions. Note that it was a Saturday during summer, so this whole encounter was very lucky!

Please give a quick synopsis of your journey after the Lycée?

After graduating, I briefly attended Université d’Evry to study Arts du Spectacle. After one semester I decided to pursue a career in classical singing. For the next six months, I prepared auditions for national music conservatories in Paris. But part of me was unsure about that decision, so I also applied to Sorbonne’s department of Lettres Modernes Appliquées. Thankfully, I was accepted to both the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional (CRR) in Versailles and Paris Sorbonne IV. I attended both simultaneously.

After graduating, I moved to Seoul and worked in television broadcasting. After about two years, I shifted my profession to luxury fashion retail and eventually began preparing for graduate school in the USA, this time circling back to my real passions: music and peace. I wrote my thesis on the potential of music in the Korean peace process and graduated with an MA from NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study in May 2021. Soon after graduation, I began an internship at the United Nations Office for Partnerships and signed a full-time contract with them in January 2022.

Can you identify the events that led you to where you are/what you are doing now?

I can highlight two things from the Lycée. First, Quatrième Français Spécial. Most people who went through FS would agree with me in saying that it is HARD! And the year that follows FS is even more difficult. I barely made it through! I received the very generous support of a few teachers to whom I will forever be grateful. Those years helped me build patience in letting myself learn, which is extremely important in the professional environment.

Second, I stayed active with extracurricular activities at the Lycée. I was part of the Student Council, played flute in the orchestra, created a gospel choir, was part of the basketball and volleyball teams, and participated in a performance of The Sound of Music. And those talent shows! Without hesitation, I can say that those activities kept my non-academic side alive. If I had only focused on academics, I doubt that I would have been accepted to the Arts du Spectacle program, nor the national music conservatory! I eventually leveraged those activities for job applications in the creative industry.

What in particular do you enjoy about your field?

Working at the UN only makes sense if it is a higher calling and a vocation. This is both a blessing and a curse – but for now, more of a blessing. It is a demanding job with few benefits and I am constantly informed of many horrifying issues around the world. But we also have the privilege of seeing the amazing things people do that rarely get media coverage. I work in a creative department where we coordinate new partnerships and projects for sustainable development goals. I work with heads of state, royal families, movie directors, athletes, singers, fashion designers, corporate CEOs, etc. It’s creative, collaborative and exciting. But the grind behind it is very real. We are constantly asked to think outside the box while respecting the bureaucratic protocols of a large international body. That’s not easy!

If you had the choice, would you do it the same way again?

Theoretically, no. We still live in a time where professional trajectories are clearly defined. If you wish to work in international relations, majoring in IR is still the ideal path. If you wish to be a successful musician, simultaneously attending a full-time university is not helpful – the time and discipline that a professional musician needs is not something anyone can half commit to. But in reality, I wouldn’t change a thing. The Lycée opened doors for me that I never dreamed of. The subtle but clear distinction between an IB and an OIB can be life-changing, and the demanding bilingual system helped me build rigor and interdisciplinary abilities. My success as a graduate student in an interdisciplinary and very independent program was possible because of the same skills – which of course, I did not know I was building at the time.

Do you have any advice for current students who might be interested in going into your profession? Is there anything they could do to prepare for it now?

Being in the “in-between” can be a hit or miss. You can become the “neither this nor that” person or you can become the “this AND that” and much more. My current boss told me that she hired me because of my unusual background. My time in the television and fashion industry is not considered an advantage in a system like the UN. However, as the department where I work is focused on building unusual partnerships, the fact that I lack an international relations background does not matter. I still have to work very hard, don’t get me wrong. I stay up late at night catching up with the IR and political science content that I missed in school. But when you find your place, everything about your life – at least most things – line up: your background, the extra-curricular activities you chose, the subconscious training for difficult circumstances… Anything else you would like to add? Don’t take the international environment of the Lycée for granted. I’ve become so used to it that I sometimes don’t see the countless advantages of being part of it. There is so much to learn and appreciate from your classmates. Also, have fun! The Lycée has more activities and resources than you might think. So don’t let the academic workload become an obstacle. Who knows, you might have super time management skills. You never know until you try!

Tiphène Lechleiter ‘14

When did you attend the Lycée International?

I joined the American Section in 2009, and remained until my graduation in 2014. My parents chose to put me into the American Section because they wanted me to experience a very handson, personal, and supportive learning style: a very “American” type of education. They were also very keen on the access to resources, trips, and after-school activities. I am very glad they made that choice.

Please give a quick synopsis of your journey after the Lycée.

At the Lycée, I chose to specialize in the sciences, and Biology (SVT) in particular. After graduating, I ended up studying Biomedical Sciences. I was largely unhappy during my first year; I struggled to make connections and worked very hard to do well in an area of study that I was not sure I even liked. At the end of that year, I dropped out, believing that moving back to France would make me happier. Since it was all I felt qualified for and all I knew, I enrolled in another biomed course, this time in Paris. That did not last long, and I soon stopped again, this time having developed a very serious anxiety disorder and depression. It took me a lot of time to come back from that. Long-story short, I just graduated with a Bachelors in Digital Arts from the University of Kent, a subject seemingly totally out of left field, and I absolutely loved it. I had a fantastic year at a company in London, completed several other internships, made loads of friends, and discovered an entire industry I never imagined I’d be a part of before. What is your current profession? What in particular do you enjoy about your field? I just began a new role as a Junior Visual/Product Designer at a digital solution company in Madrid, which means I design digital interfaces like websites or apps for different clients. I would say that I am where I am now because I tried a lot of different jobs in my field, and said yes to a lot of opportunities (including moving to Spain!). The world of digital design is massive, and there is definitely room to try different roles since the skills are very transferable. For example, I just moved to this job from a graphic design role, and before I worked in web design. This field is great for me because it is super creative and having colleagues trust your vision is extremely rewarding, but it can also be very applied - designers do a lot of research and data analysis to support their thinking. I enjoy that duality, which also leaves a lot of room for you to move either way in the field while staying in digital arts.

If you had the choice, would you do it the same way again?

Yes, absolutely. I was never going to learn as much as I did about myself if I didn’t fail, or do the wrong thing. Nobody’s journey is perfect, and all that matters is continuing to take small steps towards your dream life and career.

What do you feel you gained from your American Section experience that has carried over into your current life or driven your life choices?

I was a very shy young girl, and I know that my time in the American Section helped me come out of my shell. It pushed me to be a critical thinker, develop thoughts and support my points of view. I credit the Section with making me a great writer, which has helped me at every stage of my career, especially getting me in the door with a good cover letter. My best gifts from the American Section are the friends that I made there. We arguably went through a really challenging time together, as teenagers, and that has ensured we stay friends for life. I’ve been lucky to see those same friends through some amazing milestones recently.

Do you have any advice for current students who might be interested in going into your profession? Is there anything they could do to prepare for it now?

Digital Art is not a field that is mentioned a lot in schooling, especially in France. However, it is a massive industry and one that is growing quickly. Specialties like 3D modelling, animation, graphic design, videography, product design, and web design are immensely sought after, and there are roles that let you use or learn more than one of these. If it is an area that interests you, I would suggest creating a portfolio. If you do not have any digital art skills, such as knowing a particular software, it might not matter, as long as you find other ways to showcase your creativity and originality. I would also say, focus on finding a good course with modules that you like, and worry less about which university is teaching it. Anything else you would like to add? The internet is an incredible resource. You can learn anything there. Do it.

Jan-Willem Dikkers ‘91

When did you attend the Lycée International?

I first attended the Lycée International in 1979. We moved back from Zambia, and I was a perfect candidate for CE1 Français Spécial. My mother is American and my father is Dutch and we spoke English at home so the American Section made sense. I ended repeating the year as French (and not much else) was sticking. Mid-way through Troisième we moved to the US for a year. I was not good at math and sciences, but as I continued to spell as if I was in grade school, when I returned to the Lycée I was put in Seconde scientifique. At the end of the year, knowing I would not pass due to terribly low grades in math and physics, I was able to negotiate a change into Première D (Natural Sciences) as I somehow had a really high mark in biology. I was one of two students who had doit faire ses preuves. Over the last few months I studied on my own with study guides and surprisingly I ended up nine points away from a mention.

Applying for college was a nightmare, as I needed letters of recommendation from my teachers and I had straight Ds. I convinced them that since the US high-school diploma was earned at the end of Première, I had already accomplished getting into college by simply being in Terminale, and that they should therefore just fill out the form as if I was an excellent student whose grades did not reflect his capacity. Somehow it worked, probably due to me wearing them down, and those letters landed me a spot at Northwestern University’s engineering school.

Please give a quick synopsis of your journey after the Lycée?

I attended Northwestern University and landed on academic probation right away even though I had placed out of a year of classes. By the end of my first year, I switched to economics and marketing and slowly developed a studying ethic by dating a girl who spent a lot of time at the library. My senior year I took a class in creative advertising and by spring, knew I needed to make that my career. This was the first time I was choosing what I wanted, as everything leading up to this point had unfolded based on avoiding roadblocks.

My first job was an internship in fashion advertising with one of the leading creative directors of that time. I was exposed to the best of that industry, helped with whatever was needed, and absorbed everything. After a few months of getting paid $3 per hour I was referred to a position earning seven times that at DKNY. My hard-working, débrouillard attitude served me well, and by 23 I became creative director at Armani Exchange. I met with Giorgio Armani every three months to review campaigns. Over the following few years, I started my own small agency working for fashion brands and magazine projects. Shortly thereafter I launched my own magazine, Issue, and learned the hard way what it means to publish and run an editorial. I was fortunate to collaborate with many very talented people and as I always prioritized doing great work over making money, things went up and down a lot.

In 2009 I became Amazon’s first creative director and was responsible for creating a differentiated experience for those shopping for clothes and other “soft-line” product categories. Over the following 10 years, my projects became a bit of a mixed bag in large part due to the rise of e-commerce and social media, which directly cut into creative budgets as well as dramatically shifting the nature of the work. I was lucky to be at the forefront of this shift and help define best practices, yet little by little it lost its appeal. Being a creative director in the fashion industry in the nineties was like being a part of the art world. It evolved into being the head of a catalog house.

What is your current profession? What in particular do you enjoy about your field?

About three years ago, I went back to school to get my master’s in clinical psychology and have been working for the last two years as a psychotherapist in mental health and addiction. I realized that my new career is similar to what I was doing previously. What interested me in art and film has always been what’s going on in someone’s mind and understanding what makes them tick. Interestingly, I get to continue to collaborate with some very talented people, many of whom are artists in different careers, some with significant notoriety, and although I’m not involved directly in their work, I recognized that when I worked as a creative director I actually wasn’t either—it’s always been psychology. I’ve been really fortunate to land a new career and inherit a good 25 years of experience indirectly.

If you had the choice, would you do it the same way again?

For sure. You can learn and grow from everything. The real question is whether we actually have a choice at all!

What do you feel you gained from your American Section experience that has carried over into your current life or driven your life choices?

What was special about the American Section is that it was and hopefully remains a utopic, community-oriented, leftist, critical, knowledge-seeking organization that synthesized the best of what the US could ever be, sheltered from its stateside dominant racist, narcissistic, and consumeristic culture by being in France. My kids attend the Lycée International of Los Angeles as it’s the closest I could find here that can give them the same open-mindedness and some ease from rigid US culturally-engrained thinking.

Do you have any advice for current students who might be interested in going into your profession? Is there anything they could do to prepare for it now?

Anyone who wants to go into the arts or psychology should do so as long as their heart is in it. The best preparation is being curious and not being afraid to follow what you are passionate about and being mindful of your own wellbeing. Most importantly, avoid wasting too much time being entertained and consuming unnecessarily. Looking back at my life as well as the lives of many people I know, it’s clear that the most significant things that happen and define what has been significant are not things that any of them made happen but rather just happened. It’s important to make enough room in your life to allow for opportunity to present itself and to establish a foundation upon which great things can flourish. It’s not necessary to try to force outcomes. Sometimes being able to just accept that not knowing what to do or what’s next is the best way forward. Anything else you would like to add? If you happen to not have the best grades and you’re not sure how much is sinking in, trust that you are getting an exceptional education, and make sure to take advantage of being exposed to French thought and culture, and the true privilege of being immersed in such a diverse international community.

Mélodie Michel ‘21

When did you attend the Lycée International?

I spent all of my childhood in the American Section, from Mat 2 to Terminale. My parents decided it was the best choice for me, considering we lived nearby, I was bilingual, and my mom had been a student in the American Section when she was a child.

Please give a quick synopsis of your journey after the Lycée?

I didn’t get to travel much after the Lycée because of COVID, but while I was in Première, I had the privilege of inaugurating the concert organ in the Zaryadye concert hall, in Moscow, Russia. I played at 6 am for one hour, because the event was a marathon in which 24 international concert organists took place at the console, one after the other, nonstop. I was there to represent the USA! Since then, I have regularly given concerts on the organ and on the piano. I recently won First Prize at the Marchal Competition, and I am a laureate of the 24th Albert Schweitzer Organ Festival of Hartford competition for young organists. I just premiered a piece at the Saint-Sulpice choir organ with a choir for the Saint-Sulpice composition competition, and the piece I played won first prize. I also had the chance to play a four-hands part on the piano in a symphony at the National French Orchestra with my father and my organ teacher. I am now composing pieces, and I had the pleasure to listen to my own piece being played by professional musicians at the Salle Cortot, in Paris.

What is your current profession? What in particular do you enjoy about your field?

I am a concert organist, and I would also like to become a pilot. I am studying aeronautical engineering at ESTACA concurrently with my musical studies at the National Superior Conservatory of Paris. It is of course these studies which have shaped and continue to shape my professional life, but going back to the roots, I have to thank all of my teachers, at the Lycée International and at the Versailles Conservatory, for always being so supportive, encouraging, and simply for believing in me. Each of them has contributed to who I am, either by giving me the opportunity to give a concert in the Royal Chapel of the Versailles Palace, or by explaining the noumenon and the phenomenon, in other words, by opening doors to unknown and enchanted places which continue down the same air lane. I love that music is a language. It can express so many things that reflect the soul and emotions that one could not express with words. I love that in music, we go beyond the human world, we travel into another universe where only we exist, surrounded by a spiral of notes in a unique galaxy. I love the solitude there is in being a musician, but also the contact with the audience while performing. The transmission is incredible. I love thinking about the generations and generations of musicians, who have all been writing and playing different pieces, each of them based on a palette of only 12 notes.

I love the paradox of music: how can one thousand people all listen to the same music which is written one way, and each feel it in a different way? And how can the musician’s interpretation change the audience’s interpretation? I love how music reflects life: it has a beginning, it lives, breathes, and dies. I love how it stays in one’s heart, and how it can be associated with certain events or feelings, or even colors. I love how music can be a story, how elements can represent a landscape, or a person. In one word, I love its life.

What do you feel you gained from your American Section experience that has carried over into your current life or driven your life choices?

I have gained so much from the American Section! I learned to always work hard, to prepare oral presentations to write commentaries and thematic essays, to analyze critically, to think, to overthink, to question, to over question, to find answers, and sometimes to find that the answer is that there is no answer. I learned fantastic literary terms like palingenesis or epanadiplosis which I rarely will have the opportunity to use, but that give me a wide culture, just like the incredible study of more than 300 years of history. Further back, I learned to convert a shoebox into the Sonoran Desert, to understand the Solar System, and to write whitebooks on diverse subjects. The American Section also gave me the gifts of tolerance, of knowledge and understanding, of light, and of my best friend. All of these obviously (or discreetly) contribute to my current life, and I miss the American Section so much!!!

Do you have any advice for current students who might be interested in going into your profession? Is there anything they could do to prepare for it now?

I would say that organization is a fundamental aspect, and that finding an equilibrium is also a key. Being in a comfortable sphere like the American Section already gives lots of confidence and it also leaves space for emancipation. Being a student at the Lycée brought me lots of epiphanies, and I think you should treasure them, and treasure all of these moments with Virginia Woolf, Moby Dick, and many more, and with your friends and your teachers, to then be able to open yourself up, to open your own universe, all of which will empower you to spread your wings and fly off toward new horizons.

Elisabeth Christensen ‘92

When did you attend the Lycée International?

I attended the Lycée from 1989 to 1992, Seconde through Terminale.

Please give a quick synopsis of your journey after the Lycée.

I earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Stanford University and a Master of Music in Viola performance from the New England Conservatory. I spent six years as Executive Director of the Crowden Center for Music in the Community in Berkeley, CA, followed by seven years as Director of the New England Conservatory Preparatory School in Boston and I’m currently in my tenth year as Managing Director of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. I have also been active as a violin/ viola teacher and freelance violist, including 13 years as Principal Viola of the Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra.

What is your current profession? What in particular do you enjoy about your field?

My full-time employment has always been in arts leadership/administration, but I’ve maintained part-time work as a performer and teacher. I spent my junior year of college organizing an orchestra tour to China and worked during graduate school as the orchestra manager for a youth orchestra. I was recruited by a former professor to take an arts admin job for the summer immediately following grad school and ended up staying for six years, then continuing on in the field. I like the opportunity to impact a lot of people and to build community in a way that I’m not able to do as solely a performer or private lesson teacher.

If you had the choice, would you do it the same way again?

Had I set out to get where I am, I wouldn’t have taken the path I took, but I think it’s worked out well for me overall. I’ve had some unexpected opportunities, learned a lot, and met a lot of interesting people along the way. No major regrets, but I’m still figuring out what I want to be when I grow up!

What do you feel you gained from your American Section experience that has carried over into your current life or driven your life choices?

I am constantly surprised at the number of people I interact with professionally who have never learned to write well. The training I received in the American Section (from Mrs. Lynch in particular!) continues to serve me in my professional life. Being surrounded by peers who were engaged in thinking about the world around us also had a huge impact on me. Without that peer group, I wouldn’t have even considered applying to a school like Stanford.

Do you have any advice for current students who might be interested in going into your profession? Is there anything they could do to prepare for it now?

I think the best advice I could offer is to be open and receptive to opportunities that arise and to engage with the people around you. There are so many doors that can open unexpectedly if you make yourself available. In performance there are no shortcuts to simply doing the work in a disciplined manner. Time spent practicing, thoughtfully and consistently, is never wasted and can’t be faked or replaced.