Colleen Shrewsbury

I am an American who speaks English as her native language. I have been enamored of foreign languages as far back as I can remember. I began to learn French in high school and made the decision then that I would be fluent in a foreign language by the time I graduated college (university).I studied French at Illinois State University, where I became fluent in the language by the beginning of my third year.

In my passion for the French language I immersed myself in it as best I could from the U.S.
I listened to French music, spoke French with friends who were native speakers, and read French newspapers and novels. After completing my Bachelor of Arts in French I pursued a Master of Arts in International Relations (IR) at New York University. Due to my fluency in French I was able to test out of the requirement to study a foreign language in the International Relations program.

My primary focus under the IR umbrella was in US National Security and US Foreign Policy.
I completed an eight week internship through the US Department of State in the Non-Immigrant Visa (NIV) section of the United States embassy in Paris, France. My fluency in French allowed me to work in daily direct contact with US visa seekers and to become an integral part of the NIV staff of US Embassy Paris.