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When the man told her that she was a month too old to go to Japan to study in an international program, Manon experienced the biggest deception of her life.

In 2015, when Manon was still studying in high school, her family welcomed a Japanese student named Shiori for 10 months as part of an AFS intercultural experience (click here if you want to know more about it!). Everything went extremely well and it gave Manon the hope that she could also go in a Japanese high school for a year.

She dreamed about how her life could be there, and was picturing this dream in her head thanks to the numerous stories that her Japanese sister would tell her.

After many researches, she found out that there was a limited age to go and realised that it might not be possible for her to experience a year abroad. Her Japanese sister helped her a lot by sending emails to the association but at the association meeting, an organizer finally told her to give up this destination. 

“It felt like my dream went to Neverland”

When they came back home, Manon and Shiori cried a lot. “It felt like my dream went to Neverland”, she told us. “Shiori was crying with me, like it was her fault if I couldn’t go, or like if she was the one that had got a refusal.”

They tried by several other means to find a solution, but it was either too expensive or too late. Already interested in Korea at that time, going there was still an option for Manon but because of the stressful high school life in Korea, her parents didn’t allow her to go.

“Looking back at it, I think it was for the best”

She stayed in France and studied for her high school diploma. It wasn’t easy because she was passionate by languages but had to study maths and chemistry that she was really bad at. Thanks to her hard work and the support of her parents, she managed to graduate high school with mention and got accepted in the university where she wanted to go, a university with courses that would allow her to study both Japanese and Korean at the same time. Thanks to the partnership of this university and the huge help of Mrs. Smith, the teacher in charge of the bachelor and thanks to Mrs. Chabal, her Korean teacher, she is now studying in a Korean university in Seoul, living her best life.

“I met beautiful people in my University in France and that would not have been possible if I had been a year abroad during high school. I felt bad at that time but looking back at it, I think it was for the best. If I couldn’t go despite my efforts, I think that it was not meant to be. Maybe I wasn’t ready. Now that I’m here, I think that Campus Life is the best experience that I could have got. I’m now studying abroad, my dream came true.”

Setting : Manon, France and Korea, 2015 and today.

Problem : She wants to go study abroad in highschool in Japan but it is impossible.

Solution : She works hard, graduates high school, chooses a university that allows her to study both Korean and Japanese. She’s now in a Korean University living her best life.

Moral : Never give up. Working hard and searching for opportunities is key. If something is still impossible after you really gave your best it was not meant to be.