Sylvia Hyde participated in IUHFPL in 1969 in Saint-Brieuc, France and has many beautiful memories from her time there. The lasting influence on her experience is clear: she formed bonds with her host family that have lasted a lifetime and become intergenerational. Although the connections Sylvia formed are unique even among IUHPFL alumni, they show how the program is more than just a summer abroad.
Many of Sylvia’s memories from that summer revolve around her host family. She stayed with the Lessart family, which included her host parents and her host sisters Christine and Marylise. It also included an extended family of grandparents and cousins whom she was able to meet and spend time with while in Saint-Brieuc. When she first met her host family, Sylvia nervously asked whether she should use the informal “tu” or the formal “vous” with her parents. She was told she could use “tu” with her host mother but would have to wait for permission to use it with her host father. Sylvia quickly realized that her family was warm and welcoming and that she fit in well. Her host father was truly a loving and caring person. Once, over a weekend, Sylvia visited some castles and other sites. She realized afterwards that her film hadn’t started and all of the photos she thought she’d taken were lost. Her host father comforted her and assured her he would take her back to the sites to get another round of photos.
Sylvia also remembers Madame Maury, a native French instructor in the early days of the Saint-Brieuc program. Her guidance and teaching inspired Sylvia to study to become a French teacher. Madame Maury shared stories about her family’s experience in World War II with the students. Her father fought in the French Resistance during World War II, and Madame Maury herself remembered the skies blackening with planes on D-Day and helping wounded soldiers after the fighting that took place in Sainte-Mère-Église. Sylvia recalls each student receiving a one-inch square of material from a parachute used on that historic day from Madame Maury.
After her summer in Saint-Brieuc with IUHPFL, Sylvia stayed in touch with her host family, building relationships that have lasted to this day. She has returned to Saint-Brieuc a number of times, starting in 1972. Over the years, she has been able to meet her host sisters’ children, nieces and nephews, and grandchildren, and they have met hers as well. In a remarkable turn of events, Christine’s brother-in-law needed life-saving surgery, and one of the only surgeons in the world who could perform it was located in Indianapolis. The brother-in-law came to Indianapolis and stayed with Sylvia’s parents while he recovered. That connection added to the network of ties Sylvia and her family have created with the Lessart family and their relations. Most recently, Sylvia took her grandson Kevin to Europe this past summer. Together, they drove by the old Lessart family home in Saint-Brieuc, visited Christine who now lives in Spain, and found Madame Maury’s father’s name listed on a museum plaque dedicated to local resistance fighters in Sainte-Mère-Église.
“My passport may be American, but my heart is Breton.” Sylvia Hyde’s experience is an example of how IUHPFL can encourage students to become global citizens. Her summer abroad gave her a curiosity about the world, a love of French, and deep connections across cultural and national borders that have endured through the busyness of life. To future IUHPFL participants, Sylvia advises, “Whether your family is a great fit or just okay, make the most of your opportunities…You are getting a life changing experience offered up - it’s yours to accept and shape to meet your needs. Profitez-en!”
