I remember my time at Birmingham with a lot of fondness. I really loved the campus and felt extremely proud to be a part of such a respected institution.
I spent most of my time at the library and the European Research Institute. I remember being overwhelmed at first by the amount of reading which was required of students, as well as the level of personal involvement necessary in order to get anything accomplished in terms of keeping up to speed with the classes. Being French and not used to the British teaching system, never before had I encountered such an open, engaging and efficient way of learning.
I remember having a great sense of peace and accomplishment as I walked in the campus. Not so much in Selly Oak, though, which is where I used to live. That, in turn, was the not-so-bright side of my time in the UK. I stayed in Jarratt Hall for a couple of months and I remember meeting all manners of incredible people there from just about all walks of life. This made for a fantastic, culturally-rich environment. At any rate, I can honestly say that I spent a tremendous and exhilarating year at Bham, where I learned a great deal.
Unfortunately, I had not been so successful at securing a job until recently. I got a pretty good internship at an international organisation, followed by an awful job in Paris and a three-year career as a musician and composer. An album, a few shows in Paris, some minor airplay, one radio commercial and one hit single (which, by the way, was beautifully mixed by a brilliant sound engineer teaching at Cambridge and mastered in the UK) later, I had to accept the fact that the music scene was just not for me, I had to look back into more familiar avenues.
After a short spell working at the same international organization in Vienna, Austria, where I had done my internship, I did not manage to land a job for a whole year in Paris.
With a baby on the way, I had to find a new solution, which is why I went back to study for one more year, in France this time. Based on my education and what little experience I had managed to accumulate, I was given the chance to enter the last year of a Master's degree and I studied translation. Thanks to that, and I believe in at least some part thanks to the degree I completed in Bham, I recently managed to start working as a translator at several UN locations in Geneva, Switzerland, namely the World Health Organization, World Trade Organization and UN HQ. I am still in the process of honing my skills and getting more experience, but I believe I am on the right track.