Jun 19, 2023 2 min read Holiday

it is over.

It is over. The preparation is done. Since this Friday the 16th of June I am officially out of prépa. As of right now, I don't think I have had enough time to process what in the hell happened during those two previous years. Either way I am happy it is over, that chapter of my life is closed.

During my very last exam, I could not even stand being in the room for the whole 2 hours. As soon as I knew that I got about 50% of the exam done I was happy to get out. My 2-year-long lab partner did the same and we went over to mine (I live 50 metres from the prépa) and opened a bottle of wine in celebration.

The end of prépa was bittersweet for me. Especially since I will not be staying in France next year – starting this July I will be doing my mandatory military service in Estonia. It is why at this very moment, I am travelling to Amsterdam. I will try to make the most of my short summer in the following weeks. After visiting friends in Amsterdam, I will go do the same in Maastricht. From there I will travel to a town on the west coast of France. That's my rather hectic plan for next week.

Going back to the prépa talk – it was a worthwhile experience as a whole. It went by so fast. Yet reading over some journal entries it was brought to my attention that it was not all sunshine and rainbows. It is at the midway point of my first year, around March 2021 when the struggle became real. I was burnt out, felt very lonely and was overall done with the whole "I have no life outside of school" aspect of prépa.

In contrast, the second year was so much easier compared to the first. I had friends, I knew how things worked and most of all — I did not have exams every damn Saturday (even though I still had class).

Would I do it again? No, absolutely not. That being said, I do not regret getting it done. It was a true experience and I do think I gained something from it.

Here are a few pictures to describe the prépa experience:

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