Farewell to France

Stephanie Lomeli

French teacher Nicels Braunn smiles after sharing his experience immigrating from France to the United States. Bruann appreciates the cultural diversity he was showered in upon arriving to the U.S.

Moving to America at a young age—Beginning, Advanced and AP Art teacher Nicolas Braunn anxiously anticipated a new life in the land of opportunities.   

Braunn shared his experiences, adventures and struggles he faced when moving to the United States from France. He was only 15 years old when he first traveled to the United States—still years away from a permanent move—yet at the time, Braunn felt America provided new opportunities.

“America has always been a dream land for me,” Braunn said.

He attended art school in France which then led him to become a middle school art teacher. Although art was his field of expertise, he expressed that his accent was a big hurdle when he first immigrated to the United States and began his new part-time career as a substitute teacher. However, it quickly turned into a full time job at Bonita Vista High (BVH) where he was hired to work as a substitute teacher for the first two weeks. On Sept. 1, 1999 he was hired for a full time teaching position which would range between Advanced and AP Art.

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“My main challenge was the English language. Being in front of a classroom that spoke English better than me was one of [many] difficult challenges that came with my accent. After years of teaching in a classroom, [the] kids taught me how to use slang and I became more fluent,” Braunn said.

Braunn revealed that being in a predominantly Hispanic community, he began to pick up some Spanish terms since it is very similar to his native language, French. 

“[Since] Spanish is similar [to French], I also picked up a lot of Spanish,” Braunn said.

Being from France, he shared his tendency of referring to European art more often than any. Although he only worked at the middle school level in France, he views BVH as a very diverse campus opposed to other campuses he’s seen.

“Bonita Vista caters to a very diverse student body,” Braunn said.

When asked if one should consider studying abroad in France, he very passionately expressed they should most definitely consider and go forward with it.

“I would definitely recommend studying abroad in France, it’s very different and a unique experience,” Braunn said.

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An earlier version of this article incorrectly spelled the first and last name of Nicolas Braunn. This article was updated on February 6, 2022.

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