Jennifer Torphy graduated from Arrowhead in 1987. She now lives in France and teaches American ESL. In the interview, she looks back fondly on her time at Arrowhead and has advice for current students.
Q: What Arrowhead memory sticks out when looking back on your time here?
A: Personally, the dances held in the commons area after Friday night football games were such a blast. The different clubs and sport teams (I was in track for 4 years doing the hurdles – not great, but not bad) were pretty awesome as well. I guess the periphery activities around classes were, for me, an integral part of the whole high school experience.
Q: Did you always know you would pursue French?
A: Not exactly. I had traveled to France with NACEL the summer between my junior and senior year at AHS and had the best time. So, when I went off to UW-Madison, I started out in business thinking about going into international business and being able to use my French. Right away, I hated all the pre-business classes, so I decided to keep French and tried out a lot of different classes. Then, during my sophomore year, I applied to spend my junior year abroad at the university in Aix-en-Provence through the study abroad program that UW-Madison had with Aix at that time.
Q: Was it always your plan to move to southern France?
A: I met my future husband (ex-husband now but still very good friends) in a rock climbing club during my year abroad and at that time, it was difficult to have a long distance relationship. Not that it’s easy now, but back then there was no internet, and we could only communicate through letters sent by mail and phone calls which cost about $1 per minute. He came over twice during my senior year and I went over once. We made the decision to get married and live in France, since my French was better than his English. We did speak English at home, just in case my moving there wasn’t going to work out and that we’d need to go to the States.
Q: How did Arrowhead make a lasting impact?
A: The biggest impact was the friendships I made. Many have lasted until today. I met my 2 best friends (Michele and Trish) in freshman year and we actually just met up this past Wednesday on a 3 way Messenger video call. I spend time with Michele every time I go back to WI and in May 2024 we traveled together to visit Trish out in Aspen. They also came to visit me back in the 90s in the very beginning of my time here in France.
The teachers also made a big impact on me. Mr. Peche made us memorize La Marseillaise (the French national anthem) and I really couldn’t see the point at the time, but the French are so impressed that I know it. A lot of other teachers were amazing as well, and I loved a lot of the subjects like history, econ, swing choir just to name a few.
Q: What is your biggest piece of advice to current Arrowhead students?
A: I think that most teens around the world are pretty similar. and speaking as an educator here in France and also having worked in 2023 as a hall aid in a Waukesha school, I would tell AHS students that they need to get off their devices and really participate in everything that school life has to offer right now. You are young, and your activities and education are free (or relatively free), which will not be the case in the near future. Instead of checking out screens (series, TikTok, Reels, etc….) which are entertaining but do not show reality, check out reality, see what is going on in real life around you. Explore the things that interest you because they could be your path to your future.
Listen to Ms. Torphy: Arrowhead truly does open doors and take advantage of every opportunity.
