French student who thought she was stranded found guardian angels
Cheryl Evans, former associate dean of students, retired from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette more than 15 years ago. That doesn’t mean she’s quit helping students.
Just ask Céline Goujon of Paris, who arrived in Lafayette in mid-August, in the midst of the Louisiana Flood of 2016. It has been described as the nation’s worst natural disaster since Hurricane Sandy lashed the eastern seaboard in 2012. The unnamed storm saturated portions of Louisiana for days. Flooding claimed 13 lives and damaged hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses.
Goujon, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student at Pôle Universitaire Léonard de Vinci in Paris, had arranged to spend one semester studying at UL Lafayette. She was scheduled to arrive in Lafayette on Saturday, Aug. 13. Lafayette Regional Airport, however, was closed. So, she spent the night in Atlanta at a hotel.
She reached Lafayette on Sunday. Having seen only brief TV reports while in Atlanta, she didn’t realize the severity of the weather situation in Lafayette. Many streets were filled with high water, which limited travel. The University, though not flooded, was closed, so residence hall move-in had been postponed.
Goujon hit her first snag when she tried to phone a taxi. She struggled to make the call on her cell phone, which has an international number. She sought assistance from Evans, who was returning from a 2½ week vacation in France with her husband, Taylor. The couple and Goujon had traveled on the same flight from France to Atlanta, and from Atlanta to Lafayette. They didn’t realize it, though, until later.
“This precious young French woman came up to me and asked, ‘Can you help me phone a cab?’ ” Cheryl Evans recalled in an interview with La Louisiane.
She helped Goujon place the call. They learned it could be hours before a cab might be available. Evans realized that transportation would only be the beginning of Goujon’s challenges. She wouldn’t be able to check in to a University residence hall. Lodging citywide was scarce since hotels were packed with displaced residents.
For Cheryl Evans, who has a grown son and a grown daughter, a blend of motherly concern and former University administrator instincts kicked in. Sensing Goujon was rattled and afraid, she asked the 21-year-old student if she would like a ride and help trying to get moved into her dorm room.
“I knew what this poor young woman was facing. I said, ‘I once worked at the University and I think we can help you,’ ” she recalled.
Goujon readily accepted the offer. “I had a good feeling about them,” she said in heavily accented English. “I was scared at the beginning, because I didn’t know them, but after I saw they were connected to the University, I felt comfortable.”
Goujon’s mother, Karinne Goujon, didn’t. When Céline phoned her mother and mentioned her plans to venture into an unknown, weather-torn city with strangers, the elder Goujon “was not too happy,” Taylor Evans said with a laugh.
Goujon describes her mother’s reaction diplomatically: “She was very worried.” But Goujon was able to put her more at ease during the conversation.
“She was relieved when I told her the Evans were great people and that they were helping me.”
The “University family” lent a hand, too, Cheryl Evans said.
The Evans drove Goujon to campus, having to detour around flooded areas three times. “Once we got there, things started moving,” Cheryl Evans said.
She called Pat Cottonham, the University’s vice president for Student Affairs. Cottonham, who became associate dean of students after Evans retired in 2000, contacted Rose Honegger, director of the Office of International Affairs. Honegger arranged for Jules Breaux, the University’s director of Housing, to help Goujon settle in.
The Evans sensed that Goujon, alone on an empty campus, was still shaken and uncomfortable. The couple invited their new friend to dinner, and to spend the night at their home. Again, Goujon accepted. The next day, the Evans took Goujon shopping to get supplies for her dorm room and for her classes.
As the semester progressed, the bond the Evans and Goujon had formed blossomed into a friendship. The Evans extended an open invitation to their house for Goujon to study, hang out, eat a bite, or have a cup of coffee. Goujon dropped by the Evans’ home regularly and spent a long weekend there. She and a friend also ate Thanksgiving dinner with the couple.
“This is my American family,” Goujon said.
Evans said the relationship has been fun and rewarding. “We have loved the experience.”
Goujon chose UL Lafayette because “it has a very good mechanical engineering program,” and she relished the chance to experience a culture that shares so much with her home country.
“I was excited to visit Louisiana because your culture is French – the names of streets, the names of places, the names of people, are French,” she said.
Goujon enrolled in three mechanical engineering classes and one civil engineering course during the fall semester. She quickly adapted to campus life.
She attended an international student orientation, made friends immediately, and started participating in campus activities, such as attending a karaoke party with Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship, and swimming at the Student Aquatic Center. She also visited New Orleans, Biloxi and Dallas.
She’s a fan of the City of Lafayette. “The downtown is so cute and everyone here is really friendly.”
Goujon, who returned to France in December, expects to complete her studies and earn a mechanical engineering degree in about one year.
She also plans to keep in close contact with her new friends.
“In March, they are going to Tel Aviv, and, on their way, are going to stop in Paris,” Goujon said.
Added Evans: “We’ll be there for three nights. Her mother’s going to come up from Nice, hopefully, and her sister is in Paris, so we’ll get to meet her family.”
This article originally appeared in the Fall 2016/Winter 2017 issue of La Louisiane.