Pre- Engineering Programme in France

It has been almost 3 years since I started studying engineering in France and I think that it has been going really great so far. I started out not even wanting to do engineering nor wanting to complete my degree in another language. My goal used to be simple, complete my A- Levels and study law in the UK. Life did not allow that as it took a sharp turn when I logged into the scholarship website and found out that I have been accepted to JPA's French Engineering Programme.

The turning point was so sharp that I landed in the country of baguettes and cheese with 21 other Malaysian students (shoutout to my FP-18 fam) just 2 months after. This was my second time in Europe and at that point, I still had a hard time processing that THIS was where I would be studying, living and growing for the next 6 years of my life. The first two months I spent in Tours, yes the city is called Tours but pronounced as Toor, felt pretty surreal.

Here I was at the age of 18 learning French at a language school called Clé. I had an average of 5 hours of French per day, but it was only fun and never stressful. Within 2 months, thanks to our amazing professors and complete immersion in the French culture, we got our DELF A2 certificate (French language certificate).

For the remainder of the year, we were taught subjects like Maths, Chemistry, Physics, Mechanics, Biology and Programming to get us on par with the average French student after he/she finishes their Baccalaureat in high school and boy, was it tough. Classes were from 8am to 6pm daily and Maths consisted of a lot less calculations but a lot more theory. We lived in small 9m² rooms and classes were 10 minutes away by foot in what is called a University Institute of Technology (Institut Universitaire de Technologie or IUT in French).

I grew to love my little room as it became my personal space and honestly, it was pretty well equipped.

Looking back now, September 2017 to June 2018 was honestly the toughest period in my life. I was still having mixed feelings about studying engineering in France and that made adapting and accepting a lot harder. From being really good in Maths back in high school, Maths made me shed a lot of tears. My self- esteem took a dive and I was filled with a lot of self- doubt. Was I ever going to be good enough? Am I really just stupid? What if I get sent back because I just couldn't do this? All those questions constantly flooded my mind. However, I made it through. Thanks to my friends who I could confide in, seniors who reassured me and told me that it will only get easier and most importantly my boyfriend and family who were constantly picking me up and telling me that I got this.

I also made it through because I got to live my dream of travelling the world. We had 2 weeks of holidays every 6 weeks and boy did we grab at the opportunity to visit different places. As a little girl, my mother made me write my annual goals up till the age of 17 and put it on my wall. I would have a column for travelling where I would note down all the countries I wanted to visit. She used to say "The more you write it down and visualize it, one day it is bound to come true." Never did I imagine myself being lucky enough to have the opportunity to travel in Europe.

In that one year, I learned so much.

1. Learned that I was pretty persevering.

2. Found out who my true friends were.

3. Grew to appreciate and love my family a whole lot more.

4. Did one year of long- distance with my boyfriend!

5. Traveled to 4 countries.

6. Learned to be an independent adult

Towards the end of my year at Tours, we were awaiting our acceptance letters to our future schools. This was where we would be spending the next 2 years of lives. I chose to pursue Mechanical Engineering because my teacher made it seem really interesting and also because it was pretty general hence perfect for someone like me who did not really know what she wanted to do at that time. Finally, my batchmate Farah and I got accepted to IUT Le Havre and hence concluded, my first year in France.