My last semester of CEGEP.

It was my last semester at the CEGEP de Thetford. I was still living with my parents and I studied Natural Sciences. I was not quite sure of what I wanted to do next. I hesitated between two options.

Choice 1 : Go to university.

Choice 2 : Take a gap year to travel.

Go to university.

I decided to go to university to study Business Administration. My plan was to do a bachelor’s degree in three years and after that, I also wanted to do an MBA. I was interested in two universities that offered excellent programs in Business Administration. I didn’t know which one to choose.

Choice 1 : Go to HEC Montreal.

Choice 2 : Go to Laval University.

Go to HEC Montreal.

I decided to go to HEC Montreal because this university offered the best program. Also, I liked that it was a university specialized in business. I chose the bilingual bachelor’s degree because I thought that it was important to speak more than one language fluently in this field. Obviously, to go to this university, I had to move three hours away from my hometown. I had a friend who moved to Montreal as well, so we rented an apartment together. I was not used to live in a big city. I wasn’t familiar with the metro, so the first weeks, I was always late to my classes. I liked my school and I made new friends, but I hated living in Montreal. It was too crowded for me and I didn’t always feel safe. Also, it was hard to be far away from my friends and family. When I wanted to visit them, it was complicated. I had to leave at a certain hour to avoid traffic. In November, it was beginning to snow and the roads were not always safe, so I couldn’t visit them as often as I wanted. After my first semester, I realized that I didn’t want to live there anymore. I moved back with my parents and tried to figure out what I wanted to do next.

Choice 1 : My last semester of CEGEP.

Go to Laval University.

University Laval was the best choice for me. It was not too far from my hometown and I had a lot of friends who chose that school as well. I was also able to keep my job as a gymnastics coach because I spent all of my weekends in Thetford. I moved in in a nice apartment with two of my friends. It was close to university, so I could walk to school. My first year of university was perfect. I made new friends, I had good grades and I had a lot of fun. During my second year, I decided to do an internship. My internship was in a Marketing company. At first, I was excited. I worked for a successful company and I had my own office. I liked the job, but after two months, I realized that it was not the perfect job for me. It’s not that I didn’t like it, but I needed a job that was more helpful to others. I wanted to make a difference in people’s life, and I didn’t feel that way when I was working in the field of marketing. After a while, I analysed my option and I dropped out of my program. The next year, I went back to university to study nutrition.

Choice 1 : My last semester of CEGEP.

Take a gap year to travel.

I decide to take a gap year. During my last year of CEGEP, I was confused about what I wanted to do with my life. It felt like a good idea to take a gap year to think about it. It was also a nice opportunity to travel and to discover who I really am. I had to choose a destination for my trip.

Choice 1 : Travel to the Caribbean.

Choice 2 : Travel to Asia.

Travel to the Caribbean.

I always dreamt of traveling to the Caribbean, so I decide to do it. I wanted to do a long trip, so I looked for a job before leaving. Working would allow me to meet people and to have money to pay for the activities that I wanted to do. I found a job as a gymnastics coach in Antigua. When I arrived in Antigua, I fell in love with the place. The weather was great and the beaches were incredible. I liked my new job. I worked in a nice gym and my colleagues showed me the best activities to do and the nicest places to visit in Antigua. I also loved to teach my passion to kids from another culture. I only worked four days a week, so it gave me a lot of time to enjoy my trip. I lived near the beach, so I was almost always there when I wasn’t working. I walked on the beach every morning. My life there was awesome. A month before the end of my trip, my boss offered me a job for another year. At first, I didn’t take his offer because I wanted to start university. The last day of my trip, I had to wake up early to go to the airport. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to set up my alarm. I missed my flight. Was it because I wanted to stay without realizing it? (Rhetorical question) We will never know, but I decided to stay anyway.

Choice 1 : My last semester of CEGEP.

Travel to Asia.

I chose to travel to Asia because it is a continent that is quite different from ours. I wanted to discover the Asian culture. Thailand seemed like a great destination. I planned a three-month trip. I bought my flight ticket, rented a car and an Airbnb. I was ready to leave. When I got to my Airbnb, I was shocked. It was so different from the pictures on the website. It was not clean at all, there were cockroaches and big spiders everywhere. It was difficult to take a shower because there was almost no water. I wanted to find a new place to stay, but the owner didn’t want to give me a refund. I had pay a lot for this place, so I didn’t have the money to rent another apartment. I wanted to stay in Thailand but there no way that I was going to stay in this disgusting condo. I found a way to move out from there. I started to work at the daycare center in a nice hotel. Since I was working there, I stayed there for free. They also paid me to work there. The salary wasn’t huge, but I had a nice play to stay and the cost of life was lower in Thailand. It was nice to work there, but I quit my job after two months to visit the rest of the country. Although the beginning of my trip was far from being ideal, I loved traveling to Asia. One of my goals was to discover what I wanted to do with my life and I did. I knew that I wanted to have a job that allowed me to travel the world.

Choice 1 : My last semester of CEGEP.