The first person I interviewed was Thomas Coudron. This is his story.
“I am French with an English mom, so that’s where my British accent comes from.”
Thomas Coudron finds himself having to explain himself often, at disbelief of his French nationality.
After just turning 22 in October, Coudron is pursuing his Master’s in Business Administration (MBA). Coudron earned a degree from France called Bachelor’s International, a general business degree. He was at UCO two years ago as an exchange student as part of his degree requirement to study abroad and is now back at UCO.
Coudron had different reasons for returning to UCO, but the main concern was for someone special.
“I got a girlfriend when I was here, so I decided to come back. It’s hard to find a job from abroad in the U.S. because of paperwork and visa issues. So I discussed with my dad, and concluded that the second option was to continue my studies in MBA.”
Growing up in France, where English is not spoken as much, Coudron finds himself most fortunate to have an English mother.
“It’s pretty cool growing up with a British mom, and a French dad is pretty cool. It has given me a tremendous advantage as English is one of the languages spoken the most. I have never studied for an English test or anything. It lets me concentrate on other stuff. I thank my parents every day for that.”
However, Coudron expressed the downside at the expectations of growing up half-British.
“People think you’re a dictionary, and you can translate anything, whenever. It’s kind of irritating because they ask for one word, and depending on the setting, the sentence, it’s not going to be the same. So they say, ‘Oh, you’re not British because you didn’t give me the right word, you didn’t give me the right setting.’ It’s quite frustrating because I didn’t really have to learn all that stuff, it just came naturally to me. People don’t understand that. If you don’t experience, you don’t know and people don’t get that.” Thomas (left), holding a British flag
Although Coudron speaks the Queen’s English, he still identifies himself as French, especially where sports are concerned. He does not see it as a problem being adaptable. He even sometimes gives people what they want.
“I consider myself French. I’ve been French. I define myself French first, especially in sports, supporting a team. I’ll be French in that case. It’s strange because I also go the way people see and perceive me. When people see me here, they don’t think me as French, they think me as British because of my accent. It’s just the way it is. I don’t think too much of it. I just go with it. They seem happy too, to think I’m British. I consider myself more British when I’m outside of France. If I’m in France, it comes back naturally.”
Coudron finds adaptability very important, especially with the world getting more diverse and travel being so easy. Having spent three and a half months in Madrid, Spain, five and a half months in the south side of England, and a year in the states, Coudron feels that the world is different but at the same time, not that different.
“There is no universal wrong or right. You just have to understand what is going on around you. I think I’m open minded and I can joke about pretty much anything, but when I’m in the U.S., I can’t make too many religious jokes because people won’t necessarily understand it as that way. Stuff I do here, I don’t do there and vice versa. Knowing your environment and being able to analyze and recognizing the person in front of you is key.”
As for the future, Coudron is still not decided on where he is going to end up. He thinks that family would be a huge factor in settling down.
“I don’t fix my mind on a particular geography. I’m glad I was raised the way I was, because I have learned so much culturally. I consider myself very lucky. It’s amazing to be able to have two great languages to solve life with. It’s a great advantage.”
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