MY STORY

I was schooled mainly in public (state) schools in the United States, with a two-year interlude  in Germany in a German-French bilingual school in middle school, the first semester of high school in an all-girls Catholic school in Georgetown USA, and the last semester of high school in Russia on an exchange program.

 

After spending my second semester of senior year in Russia, my heart was set on studying my undergraduate degree in my country of origin, Belgium. I had, however, set out to apply for college in the United States where I had grown up most of my childhood, ready to prove to myself that I could crack the system : I was a conscientious student, participated in many activities such as sports, and even the Latin and Russian society clubs, self-studied my SATs over and over again, visited the campuses, even met one or two admissions officers, wrote an original narrative essay… and eventually was admitted to Stanford University and Cornell University (but rejected from Harvard and Yale ;-).

 

I had applied to major in environmental sciences, and minor in international relations. My choice in Belgium was much more limited : political sciences or agricultural engineering (now coined « bio-engineering »), were what most corresponded to my original choice of majors in the US, so I felt the pressure to try the more challenging of the two, namely bio-engineering. My choice of classes my last year in high school did not prepare me well for this area of study. I had dropped maths, which I was talented enough in- or so I thought as I had been placed a level one year in advance in the American system, and decided to study Russian intensively instead. Little did I know that the Belgians had all spent their final year of school fiercely doing integrals… Needless to say, I was poorly prepared for the bio-engineering class, too busy discovering the busy social life in Belgium, and learning to cook, clean, and drive… to the detriment of my academic year.  My failure felt like the end of the world to me : from acceptance to Stanford University, to Fs at university in Belgium. After a challenging first year far from home, out of survival, I decided to study something else instead, subjects in my comfort zone.

 

I started my career teaching Business German and English and intercultural skills in China and India after getting married and accompanying my husband on his expatriated professional missions. I then studied theatre in Argentina, joined the director’s theatre troupe and performed in « El Otro Galileo », and volunteered as Musical theatre assistant director of « CATS » and Debating coach at the local British school. When I moved to Peru, I taught English literature and Drama (IGCSE and International Baccalaureate) in a British school for three years, and joined my colleague’s theatre troupe « Cuer2 ».

 

While in Latin America, I had three children, but finally decided that it was high time to attend graduate school. My husband got a full-fledged scholarship to get an MBA, and I got a half scholarship to study at the School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University, where my focus was on European studies, and Education and Immigration Policy. 

 

Even after getting my Masters degree, I continued to follow my husband in his more often than not expatriate career, which brought me to have to change jobs every three years on average. It also taught me how to write many, many cover letters, prospect for many jobs both in Belgium and the rest of the world, and to never give up.

 

In parallel I have coached my three children to navigate different school (/linguistic) systems, as they have all had to change schools on average every two years. My eldest attended boarding school in the UK for her two years of the International Baccalaureate, which has led her to study British and French law at Warwick University. My son is currently preparing to apply to universities in three different countries, the first application already due in a few months. My youngest has just chosen her optional classes for the first year of high school next year in the Belgian school system. Three children, three very different routes.

 

This life experience is why I am confident that I can help you find your path, however many obstacles you may face on the way. I am available to make your journey a bit smoother, to avoid some of the bumps.

But ultimately it is grit that is the most useful life skill for building an interesting, resilient, and constructive life.