One lucky Hartselle High School senior will be enjoying a two-week all-expenses-paid French exchange this July.

Jacob Kent

Jacob Kent will be leaving for Lyon, France to stay with the family of Mathieu Tournier July 5 before Tournier flies back with him to Alabama and stays two weeks.

Applications for the exchange were open to all family members of BASF Global employees. BASF is an international chemical company based in Ludwigshafen, Germany. Kent’s father Kelly Kent works in ozone conversion for airlines at BASF.

Kent said he applied at the last minute after his father insisted.

“I have known about the exchange for a long time, but neither of my two older brothers ever applied because they didn’t meet the two-year foreign language requirement,” Kent said. “When we found out that was no longer a requirement, we realized I qualified, so I filled out the application, wrote the essay and turned it in within about two days. My dad said I shouldn’t miss this opportunity to travel since I would probably never get a free chance again.”

Kent said he has not travelled extensively, and this will be his first time on a plane.

“Most of our family trips are to Georgia, Florida or Tennessee,” Kent said. “I have been to Mexico on a cruise before, but that’s the only time I have actually been out of the United States. I’m really looking forward to the new experience.”

Lyon, France is in the southeastern part of the county about three hours from Paris and near the beach. Kent said he hopes to get to get to do some sightseeing while he is in France.

“We haven’t really talked about what I will get to do while I’m there,” Kent said. “I’m interested in seeing the Eiffel Tower, but I will also be there during Bastille Day on July 15, so that will be fun. We are thinking about taking Mathieu to the Space and Rocket Center and maybe Tennessee. We’ve asked each other what we want to do over Facebook and email, but neither of us are really set on anything.”

Kent said he is most excited about introducing Tournier to Southern food.

“I would really like to show him our Southern culture, especially the food,” Kent said. “Sweet tea is probably the most Southern thing, but I want to show him catfish and lots of deep fried foods. I really want to immerse him in the American South, so maybe we can go shooting and take him to Scout falls.”

The Kent family has previously hosted a Brazilian foreign exchange student for 10 months and several other foreign soccer coaches and players through the Kent’s involvement with Hartselle soccer.

“We are pretty used to hosting foreign students and coaches from our years of soccer,” said Kent’s mom Lori Kent. “We always try to make them feel at home and like a part of the family, so we will have to figure out a way to do that in the short time Mathieu will be here. We enjoy introducing our culture with others and learning about theirs.”

Kent said he felt like this new cultural experience would be good for him.

“I’m not worried that I will have culture shock since the stay will be so short,” Kent said. “I think I will be able to learn from this experience, and I’m excited to see how other teenagers live.”