Challenging one-self. Vol. 1

I’m not that old, yet, but what I surely learned about life is that you’ve got to time to time push the boundaries of who you are and what you can do.

I had multiple instance in my life, and maybe that was my ADHD talking but almost at every time before it happened I felt extremely bored.

One of the first time - which had a huge impact - is when I decided to go to Canada to study computer sciences. I was extremely unhappy with the French education system, at that time studying “Math and Programming applied to Science” - which sounds good when I say it out loud in this modern world of AI, but that was in 1998 . Then a friend with family in Quebec showed me the computer science cursus in a school in Montreal. I applied almost immediately. Sadly, registration for the same year were closed, but I did it anyway and joined the following year.

While waiting I did all the paperwork to get a student visa, worked a bit to save money, buy a plane ticket, and before I knew it, it was time to go. When I landed in Montreal, it was roughly 1 month before the start of the study cursus, and all I had was a visa, the acceptance paper, and a suitcase. The first step from that was to find a place to stay before the night.

I quickly managed to find a student apartment, free during the summer break, and during the following month I opened a bank account, found an apartment to stay in, buy some furniture, and finalize my school registration.

I stayed in Canada for 3 years, time to finish my cursus and get my diploma. During that time many thing happened. I lived in three different places, each with their own challenges and experiences. Learned how to manage a tight budget. Met many people, of which several are still close to me in my heart. Seen the world from a different culture and perspective. Got used to and spoke Quebecois.

Note: While this is might be a cool story, I cannot remove the fact my parents were extremely supportive and tried to contribute as much as they could.