UNC Asheville Student Wins International Award in Lyon, France

UNC Asheville senior Andrew Kessinger, a multimedia and French major studying in Lyon, France, recently placed third in an international college student competition designed by the Lyon Chamber of Commerce to establish a relationship between Lyon and students’ home countries.

Kessinger’s third-place project was the creation of a Web site, www.lyoNC.com, intended to encourage dialogue between college students in Lyon and North Carolina. The web site permits members to access profiles of students studying in the universities of the two regions and encourages a greater mastery of the two languages as well as promote joint business activities.

Kessinger had the opportunity to combine his background as a multimedia and French major to develop his project. He used his knowledge of French to communicate his ideas and his background in multimedia to create a web site that is both visually pleasing and functional.

Kessinger is one of 125 students from around the world who was selected to study in Lyon through the region’s highly selective Young Ambassadeur to Lyon program. As part of the program students have the opportunity to attend international conferences and special tours of the region’s businesses, museums and schools.

Kessinger has spent the greater part of the last year studying in France with the help of UNC Asheville’s Office of Study Abroad and Study Away Programs. Kessinger is studying in Lyon through the International Student Exchange Program, the world’s largest network of universities that cooperate to provide affordable international educational experiences for their students.

“The Study Abroad Office at UNC Asheville has been extremely helpful by procuring so many agreements with other universities throughout the world that allow their students to travel," said Kessinger. “Studying abroad is one of the most enriching things a student can do for his or her language skills and personal development.”

Media Contacts:

• Dr. Cathy Pons, UNC Asheville Foreign Languages Associate Professor, 828/232-2440
• Jill Yarnall, UNC Asheville Public Information Assistant Director, 828/251-6526