Caroline Ventezou

Caroline Ventezou is a graduate major at University Jean Moulin (Lyon, France) who is currently studying in the University of Texas at Austin as part of a student-exchange program. She will return to France in May 2008 and complete her Masters degree in Journalism. She is interested in reporting and photography and after her graduation, hopes to get a job as a photojournalist in South America.

Ventezou worked as a local general news correspondent for a French local newspaper called Le Progres, for five years (2002-2007). It was a great learning experience for her as she learnt writing, editing and photography skills on the job. During the summer of 2006, Ventezou also worked as a French teacher for a month at the University San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador. Caroline also worked as a French translation assistant at the Office of International Programs at Appalachian State University (Boone, NC, USA) during her first study abroad program. She was also an educational presenter for a K-12 outreach Program.

Ventezou attended the University of Franche-Comte (Besancon, France) from 2002 to 2004 where she received her diploma in communication and journalism. She attended Appalachian State University, North Carolina, in 2004 as part of a study-abroad program. She returned to France in 2005 where she studied political science and journalism at the University Jean Moulin (Lyon, France) for two years and earned her college degree. She is currently pursuing her Masters degree from the same university and as part of a student-exchange program, is studying journalism with an emphasis on photography and design at the University of Texas in Austin.

Caroline was born on November 7^th 1984, in a small city called “Saint Claude” in the east of France. She grew up in a very nice and quiet environment with her brother Thomas and both parents, until they got divorced in 2004. Ventezou believes this difficult time in her life taught her to be strong and adapt to changing environments. In her free time, she likes to play basketball and racquetball. She also has a passion for languages and can speak English, German and Spanish apart from her native French language. She also loves to travel and would like nothing better than to pack her bags and go off to a new place.