Hometown: Paris, France

Year: Junior

College: Jonathan Edwards

Major: Economics

Extracurriculars: Senior Class President; Junior Class Council, vice president

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You can say a lot about Paris, and you can say a lot about New Haven, but only one of the two cities has Yale. And for Yannis Messaoui—a Paris native, born and raised—Yale was enough.

Yannis says that he has always been exposed to “lots of English” moving through elite public schools in Paris and, for a short period of time, the Lycée Français de New York. This made the proposition of an American college experience feasible for Yannis, but neither an interest in English nor the desire to study abroad brought him across the Atlantic for his bachelor’s degree. Rather, it was the lure of a liberal arts education and an opportunity to spend four years of college experimenting with a range of different academic interests that ultimately drew Yannis to Yale.

In France, Yannis complains, “everything is a ready-made path for you to follow.” But whereas European colleges and even high schools tend to push students into specific career paths at early stages in their education, Yale allows—and even requires—undergraduates to study a broad range of academic topics before graduating, in the spirit of a liberal arts education. This held sway for Yannis.

“The name Yale drew me in from France in the first place,” Yannis says. “I toured Yale in New Haven and absolutely loved Yale. We don’t do the whole campus life back in Paris—and there’s also so much freedom in Yale versus in France. I was looking for academic freedom.”

Now a senior, Yannis has settled on a bachelor’s degree in economics, but not before, he explains, trying out premed courses at Yale and experimenting with majors in global affairs, political science, and engineering.

In high school, Yannis experimented with a broad range of activities, from theater to model congress. At Yale, he says, not much has changed: He pursues a wide range of interests, including water polo, club swimming, Yale TV (YTV), and working at a student café. However, Yannis has been very devoted to student government at Yale. He has spent half of his time at Yale in class leadership and is committed as class secretary, the equivalent of senior class president. He will hold this position until 2024, planning reunions and alumni events until five years down the line.

According to Yannis, although he entered the university unsure of what he would enjoy most, his greatest joy at Yale has turned out to be engaging with his fellow students. One of his favorite memories from Yale was the Masquerade Ball, a formal dance that is held every spring to commemorate the Senior Class. “It was great to see all my friends together and having a great time. Plus,” he adds jokingly, “my high school in France didn’t have a prom.”

“I thought I’d go in with an open mind but without any specific expectations. Especially freshman year, Yale was way better than what I thought it would be,” Yannis says. “What I realized I loved most was just making connections with people . . . I have made so many friends at Yale, and I have learned so much.”

His one misgiving about Yale? The students don’t take the chance to visit New York enough, Yannis claims.

Yannis’s essays include one of his Yale supplement essays.

ESSAY 1 (YALE SUPPLEMENT):
Please reflect on something you would like us to know about you that we might not learn from the rest of your application, or on something about which you would like to say more.

We feasted on empanadas and avocado, laughed to tears, and told stories of France and Chile. When I thanked the Ruz family for welcoming me in Santiago I felt blessed for speaking Spanish.

For as far as I can remember I have always wanted to learn Spanish. I started teaching myself when I was ten but it didn’t pay off so I applied to the Spanish European Section in middle school unaware of what a life changing experience I was about to live.

Five hours a week my class met with Ms. Piotrowski, a dynamic blond woman knocking us out with Spanish grammar, vocabulary and culture. “Come on, niños, Spanish isn’t a dead language! Breathe it, live it!” The first weeks were quite discouraging. Ms. Piotrowski was never satisfied; her expectations seemed out of reach. I didn’t give up though, I clung to learning Spanish as hard as I could and, when I could eventually utter decent phrases and understand conversations, I realized that I could do whatever I wanted if I gave myself a shot.

Self-confidence was indeed the most important lesson the European Section taught me. My shyness vanished thanks to what Ms. Piotrowski called “the victims.” She would randomly call out one name and have this student make a speech in Spanish in front of the whole class. My first “victimization” was horrendous but I strangely came to enjoy the exercise. I could be whatever I wanted to be, come up with new intonations and quirky retorts. When I was a victim I would lead the show and, gradually, the insecure boy I used to be before I entered the Section came out of his shell. I had discovered another facet of my personality: my love for acting. The Section turned out to be a wonderful opportunity to follow this passion. Every term, Ms. Piotrowski would divide the class into small groups that had to write and shoot a short video in Spanish. Not only did it develop my taste for teamwork, it allowed me to express my creativity though I may have acted less eccentrically had I known that my act disguised as a fortune-teller blithering in Spanish would be projected on a big screen in front of the whole class and the parents at the end-of-the-year party.

In the European Section I found a community where I belonged. A community cemented by teamwork and the same passion. I feel that the most gratifying point of this whole process was that it connected me to what makes us human. Learning a new language is a window onto different countries, cultures and individuals. I feel the diversity of the world we live in. I have built many great relationships thanks to this gift.

Learning Spanish helped me define my identity, it made me who I am. This experience turned me into a better person. I want to give this gift back and I hope college will provide me with the opportunity to do so.

From 50 Yale Admission Success Stories: And the Essay That Made Them Happen, edited by the Yale Daily News Staff. Copyright © 2020 by the authors
and reprinted by permission of St. Martin's Publishing Group.