A post about what summer has in store
Once upon a time there was a girl who never thought she would want to go to France. Well, to be more precise, she thought that she might develop the desire one day--but only after having seen every other place on her bucket list (India, Venice, Greece, Korea...). If she never got around to going there, she really wouldn't have cared.
Silly girl right? Well that was me just a few years ago. Until I applied and got an interview scheduled for this sick job opportunity as a Canadian government employee at the Vimy Ridge Memorial (wayyyy up in the North of France). I really only applied because my mother said I should and did most of the work for me (#confessions). But I began to warm up to the idea. I started to think to myself, "Why wouldn't I want to go to France? It's only the place where my ancestors are from."
_cropped.jpg)
When my interview date came, I spoke some broken French, butchered (meaning really failed) the little test they gave me about Vimy Ridge history, and a few weeks later I found that... I didn't get the job. The newly planted seedling of my desire to go to France was crushed. But not entirely.
In retrospect, it turned out well because it gave me a few years to let that seed grow just a little bigger.
It's been a few years since that sad rejection, but I didn't dwell on it too much. I was pretty intent on making my way to India and finishing my anthropology degree. But this last year of school was entirely exhausting. As a BYU-senior-year zombie, I spent many thrilling weekends in the library. The person I saw the most was my sister--through snapchat. Somewhere in the mix, I remember calling my mom, having a mini-breakdown, and declaring that I just could not handle having to go to school over the summer--even if it meant postponing graduation.
Like all good ideas in my life, the idea of finding an internship abroad was my mother's. She's got my back. And so does BYU obviously because they have really good connections with internships all over the world so it really wasn't too hard to make it all happen. 1% of the credit goes to me for being able to speak a smidgen of French (and that too is mostly due to my mother) and the rest of the credit goes to the good reputation BYU's past french students have had with organizations they've worked for in France.
SO by Wednesday I will be working with Les Petits Frères des Pauvres a social service agency that serves elderly people in the beautiful city of Marseille. For three months, I will try to blend in (to some extent) and try to overcome the parts of my introverted self that hate speaking a language I'm not very competent in and talking to strangers constantly.
It's gonna be an adventure. So stay tuned. Or don't. I'm mostly writing these posts for my mom. :) Hi mom.
Love,
Stéf
Silly girl right? Well that was me just a few years ago. Until I applied and got an interview scheduled for this sick job opportunity as a Canadian government employee at the Vimy Ridge Memorial (wayyyy up in the North of France). I really only applied because my mother said I should and did most of the work for me (#confessions). But I began to warm up to the idea. I started to think to myself, "Why wouldn't I want to go to France? It's only the place where my ancestors are from."
Vimy Ridge Memorial
When my interview date came, I spoke some broken French, butchered (meaning really failed) the little test they gave me about Vimy Ridge history, and a few weeks later I found that... I didn't get the job. The newly planted seedling of my desire to go to France was crushed. But not entirely.
In retrospect, it turned out well because it gave me a few years to let that seed grow just a little bigger.
It's been a few years since that sad rejection, but I didn't dwell on it too much. I was pretty intent on making my way to India and finishing my anthropology degree. But this last year of school was entirely exhausting. As a BYU-senior-year zombie, I spent many thrilling weekends in the library. The person I saw the most was my sister--through snapchat. Somewhere in the mix, I remember calling my mom, having a mini-breakdown, and declaring that I just could not handle having to go to school over the summer--even if it meant postponing graduation.
Like all good ideas in my life, the idea of finding an internship abroad was my mother's. She's got my back. And so does BYU obviously because they have really good connections with internships all over the world so it really wasn't too hard to make it all happen. 1% of the credit goes to me for being able to speak a smidgen of French (and that too is mostly due to my mother) and the rest of the credit goes to the good reputation BYU's past french students have had with organizations they've worked for in France.
SO by Wednesday I will be working with Les Petits Frères des Pauvres a social service agency that serves elderly people in the beautiful city of Marseille. For three months, I will try to blend in (to some extent) and try to overcome the parts of my introverted self that hate speaking a language I'm not very competent in and talking to strangers constantly.
It's gonna be an adventure. So stay tuned. Or don't. I'm mostly writing these posts for my mom. :) Hi mom.
Love,
Stéf
Yes! The blog is back! "Mostly writing thes posts for my mom"...and me because I will DEFINITY be reading every single one of these! Oh Stéf, so excited for you!
ReplyDeleteCar! I'm so excited for YOU! If you don't blog your adventures can you just forward me the family emails you send? Because I LOVE THOSE SO MUCH.
ReplyDeleteFamily emails? What a neat idea.
ReplyDelete