{"id":8550,"date":"2022-08-16T09:28:54","date_gmt":"2022-08-16T13:28:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/?p=8550"},"modified":"2023-12-12T13:31:01","modified_gmt":"2023-12-12T18:31:01","slug":"french-lit-major","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/french-lit-major\/","title":{"rendered":"Quelle Surprise!<\/em> The Hidden Benefits of My French Lit Major"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Being immersed in another language and culture made me a better lawyer\u2014and a more broad-minded person<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Melissa Hart Moss \u201993, JD \u201997<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cA French literature major for a pre-law student\u2014why?!\u201d <\/em>My loving but relentlessly pragmatic dad was actually one of many to question my major back when I was a sophomore in Arts & Sciences in the early \u201990s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This choice was a balance between practicality and passion\u2014an evaluation that resurfaces during many of life’s chapters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pandemic, for example, has forced and inspired so many of us to change careers and reinvent our professional selves at this dynamic juncture in history. <\/p>\n<\/div>

\"A<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Many of us find ourselves entering and re-entering the workforce at various life stages. Younger people, too\u2014including my own teens currently exploring their college options\u2014are feeling pressure to specialize early in specific areas of study, and to back up their selections with focused experiences at greener ages and stages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My Cornell choices and where they led my career illustrate that pragmatism and passion do not have to be like a seesaw, where increasing one diminishes the other. You can turn something you love into something to live on, instead of the other way around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So why French lit? The language was like a complicated puzzle that I could solve. It symbolized freedom and adventure, too, as I had studied and lived with a family in the South of France the summer before 10th grade, and made forever friends as part of a year-long exchange program during my senior year of high school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Pragmatism and passion do not have to be like a seesaw, where increasing one diminishes the other.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

At Cornell, engaging professors chose texts\u2014by Sartre, Camus, de Beauvoir, Foucault\u2014that exposed flaws in the human condition, challenged Americans’ choices and culture, and pushed me to think and analyze way outside of my comfort zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I appreciated that professors would pull up a chair right along with us in our literature classes, with enrollments that fit around a small table. I felt collegiality, respect, and inspiration as I developed fluency, and even played the role of Lina in the play La Colonie<\/em>. (OK, not my calling!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Filling my toolbox with analytical skills in French, I embraced Cornell\u2019s promise of \u201cany person, any study\u201d\u2014taking law-related courses in government, psychology, and economics. As I built my transcript I felt unique, and even worthy of being a Cornellian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spending all of junior year with the Cornell Abroad program in Geneva, Switzerland, was an ideal way to combine and develop my interests and career goals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n

The dominant language there is French, so as a student at the Universit\u00e9 de Gen\u00e8ve I could enhance my proficiency in career-focused classes like the history of Swiss banking and the business of art and antiques. I wrote papers, gave presentations, and socialized with peers from all over the world\u2014all in French.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n

Share your ‘perspective’!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you have an idea for a personal essay? Send it to us at: cornellians@cornell.edu<\/a>!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Outside of school, I gained networking skills navigating a job search at the United Nations, landing an internship with a French delegate to the International Labor Organization. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I researched child labor issues in migrant and immigrant populations in France, and wrote reports in both French and English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My experiences in French and law led to mentors and job opportunities as a Cornell Law student. After I earned my JD, my undergrad major continued to enhance my legal career, as I was consistently plucked from lowly associate-ville to work on interesting cases involving France and French products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Melissa
Moss in Geneva, Switzerland, where she spent her junior year.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

I will never forget the pride I felt during one yearly review, when the partners revealed that a key French pharmaceutical client singled me out as truly understanding the reasons behind their business decisions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had indeed spent a significant part of my twenties conducting interviews, poring over documents, and translating their French colloquialisms into a formidable position in their high-stakes litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just as my dad questioned choosing French as a major for a pre-law student, he also frequently lamented that “lawyers are a dime a dozen.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps\u2014but since focusing on what I loved translated to fulfilling career opportunities, I know that unconventional choices can create a valuable pathway. You can turn passion into purpose, and create a living around living your best life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melissa Hart Moss<\/strong> \u201993, JD \u201997<\/strong>\u2014a third-generation Cornellian<\/em> and a correspondent for her class\u2014is a former law firm associate and a trained mediator in the Massachusetts district courts. The mother of two teens, she is currently in the process of evaluating a return to work. She is married to David Moss, JD \u201996.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top image: Illustration by Cornell University. All photos on this page provided.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published August 17, 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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