You should go ahead and take France’s official proficiency exams. These are valid for life and are used by companies and government agencies in hiring people with French proficiency, and they are also used by French universities for students wanting to study in France. There are many locations where you can take the exams. Look up Alliance Francaise for more information.
Your national award is fantastic! Any national level award will help you stand out in college admissions and scholarship applications. Now it is time to build on that with official proof from France of your level of proficiency in French. Once you get your results, you can aim to improve until you have the highest level of certification. That will open lots of doors.
Here are three examples from my friends on how they have used French in their careers:
- one person majored in French and also studied accounting, became a CPA, and took on a job conducting audits of companies in France, eventually becoming a CFO of an international corporation
- one person studied French and joined the military, and has the highest level French proficiency certification, and because of that has a high ranking and travels to Paris and African countries a lot using her language skills
- one person studied French and was able to secure a promotion in her epidemiology job at the CDC, advancing from a position in the USA to one that is international and takes her traveling to other countries regularly
Whatever your career plans, there will be a way for French to play a role if you choose that. Since you show so much promise with languages, you should definitely consider the possibilities.