✖ application: auniversity

[cinematiques]

✉ Player Info
Name: Jo
Player Journal: inglouriously
Contact: joisaverage
Other characters already at University: none!

✉ Character Info
Name: Shoshanna Dreyfus
Canon: Inglourious Basterds
Age: 20
Year: Junior

History:

In Shoshanna's canon, her family is murdered by Nazis during World War Two, as they are Jews living in occupied France.

However, in this AU, her family are alive and well--merely a poor dairy farming family from a small community in Nancy. She grew up in the Jewish faith, although her family are not strictly Orthodox, they celebrate the major holidays and are what is referred to as "culturally Jewish". Shoshanna grew up on her family's dairy farm in French cow country, tending to the cows from a young age and sharing chores with her mother, Miriam, her father, Joseph, her uncle, Bob, and her younger brother Amos. She attended a small community school and made excellent grades, especially in literature, and the young Shoshanna forever had her nose in a book, even when she was meant to be milking cows.

After finishing off secondary school, the eldest Dreyfus sibling decided she wanted to study cinema in Paris. Going to the rare and much-appreciated movie was a favorite pastime for a poor farmer's daughter, but she was enchanted especially by the French avant-garde, and what better way to learn more than to study at one of Paris's fine universities?

Her hard work in high school paid off, earning her a scholarship which made up for her family's lack of tuition money, and Shoshanna packed her things and moved to the city, bright-eyed and eager to learn. It wasn't easy for her to adjust to city life, and she instantly became withdrawn, sticking mostly to her tiny flat or nearby cafes when she wasn't attending classes. In the middle of her first year, she began sticking around a small cinema called Le Gamaar, owned by an admirably fierce woman called Ada Mimieux. At first, Shoshanna merely attended films, but then she became friendly with the projectionist, Marcel, and eventually began pestering Mme. Mimieux to teach her how to run the projectors. The Madame was reluctant at first, but persistence won out and she gave Shoshanna her first job, running the projectors with Marcel, along with various odd jobs around the cinema. There she worked for the first two years of school, striking up a slow, shy romance with Marcel along the way..

However, at the end of her second year, Shoshanna was recommended for a study-abroad program in the United States. Although her English needed work and she was reluctant to leave the cinema, she recognized it for the good opportunity it was, and applied. With her high marks and passion for her area of study, she was accepted, and used the money she'd been saving from the cinema to pay for her airfare. And now she finds herself in an unfamiliar country, right back where she started--alone with her books.

Personality:

Shoshanna is a very straightforward, blunt kind of girl. Though she tends to keep to herself more often than not, it's mostly because of her isolated upbringing and natural distrust. That being said, she will never hesitate to speak her mind, especially if it will eliminate an annoyance or a threat. Shoshanna tends to be reserved, unwilling to open up to strangers or share a lot of personal information.

That said, her strengths are her privacy and her ability to get out of a sticky situation using her cool demeanor and excellent lying skills. Although Shoshanna's coldness can falter and give way to pleasantry, especially if provoked by surprise, she usually manages to maintain a serene mask, revealing very little. This tends to attract the attention of boys rather than repel them as she would rather have happen; she tends to be perceived as mysterious. However, she isn't always cold disdain; she can be genuinely nice, it's just that most people aren't let close enough to find out.

As someone living in a foreign country, Shoshanna has difficult opening up to new people in particular, because she finds it difficult to place trust in others. She doesn't make friends well, with her stubborn attitude and stand-offish ways, and if she does happen to meet a new person, they usually remain firmly in the realm of 'acquaintances' until she can ascertain that they are trustworthy. She is as sparing as possible with details about herself, and has little interest in the day-to-day frivolities of other people. She is spartan in lifestyle and means, but she still does enjoy a glass of wine and a good book, not to mention cinema. For the most part, though, she is very efficient in the way she lives her life: her clothing is utilitarian and androgynous in style, her living space tidy and with minimum decoration that wasn't already there.

She speaks with an effortlessness that is common to the French, often accented with a wave of her hand, always very quickly and to the point. Her words are frank, she makes up her mind quickly and almost always speaks it, even if it puts her at risk. Her Jewish faith is important to her, as it is her biggest tie to her family, and as the only Dreyfus not living in France, she finds it comforting to celebrate major Jewish holidays quietly just as she would back home. Her Jewishness is something she holds dear, a reminder that even though her family are an ocean away, they remain tied together in some essential way. It holds her over until she's able to return home after college.

Abilities:
Canon: None.

AU'd: The amazing ability to analyze a film without sounding pretentious.

Major/Minor: Film Studies/French Literature

Club(s): None at the moment.

Network sample:

My name is Shoshanna, and I'm currently in Professor Bonnefoy's French Literature 301 class. My native language is French, but as anyone who has taken the class knows, the essays for the class are to be written in English.

Might someone be able to help me proof-read my essays? My English writing leaves something to be desired. In return, I can offer tutoring in French or in any film studies coursework. Ideally, I would like to meet in the library, or in another public place. Please get back to me soon, as I don't want to put this off until the last minute. Thank you.

[Shoshanna pauses for a long moment to read all of this over before she posts it to the school's student network. The last time she put up a request like this, she made the mistake of including her phone number--all that had resulted from that was a number of unwanted texts inviting her to various parties over the weekend. This time, she makes a point of sounding formal and vaguely unfriendly. That should do the trick.]

Entrance Essay (note: spelling and grammar in context):

My name is Shoshanna Dreyfus, and I would like to put my name forward to study abroad at your university for the remainder of my post-secondary education. As a French citizen, I am very passionate about the arts, especially cinema and literature, and have completed two years of my degree here in France with a major in Film Studies and a minor in French Literature. I would like to explain to you why I am a good candidate for studying in your university.

Every university can use diversity, and I can help bring that to your institution. I am both French and Jewish, and my people have a rich cultural background that helps me gain a better understanding of history and how the French have affected the cultures of other nations. For me, studying in America would be beneficial because it would allow me to learn about American culture and history, especially your film industry. What I have studied here in France is mostly French film, but I would like to gain a different perspective, especially on Hollywood and its history.

In addition, I would like to be able to improve my English. It is much improved from when I was younger, but it is important for me to be able to speak and write fluently so that I can be able to contribute to the academic world someday without creating a language barrier. By taking classes in English in your school, I can accomplish this goal and learn to become a citizen of the world, not just France.

I hope that you will consider my application to your university, and see that I am an ideal candidate and a serious student. I promise that if I am accepted to study there that your time will not be wasted with frivolous activities. I aim only for success and for better knowledge of the world.

Additional Notes: