To Paris; New Beginnings
This is quite a really personal bit of my life but this is a story I would love to share. It has been quite a journey but I’m glad i am here now.I landed in Paris on the 2nd of September 2019, and as I got the keys to my apartment, a tear dropped. I got into my apartment and exhaled, laid on my bed and the tears flowed. I cried so much, I cried uncontrollably — it was tears of joy. I couldn’t believe I was about to start living my dream.
I remember when I fell in love with the french language. It was during a French class in secondary school in 2009. I was fascinated at how my teacher pronounced the words and I loved her accent. She shared images of Paris in class one day and she said Paris is called the city of lights. I told myself, “I would love to study at the city of lights someday”
10 years later, it is 2019 and I am about to begin my Masters in Paris.
I love the French language so much and that is what I majored in at University of Lagos, in Nigeria but it was not always smooth sailing. I suffered an immense amount of depression and it affected everything, my grades included. When I applied for the MasterCard Foundation Scholarship to study in France, I honestly did not think I stood a chance but I emerged one of the 4 finalists and although I didn’t win, being top 4 was such a huge deal to me. I also honestly cannot think of anyone else who deserves the scholarship more than the lady who won. I am so happy for her.
My family is so worried about how we are going to fund my education in Paris, it has been really challenging, but somehow, I am here. I do not have it all figured out but still, I am here, taking it one step at a time and for that I am grateful.
I remember how I felt when I opened my passport and saw that my visa was approved. I cannot explain it but after I saw my visa, somehow every single pain I had felt in 2019 disappeared. It felt like a new me was born. It felt so good. 2019 has been quite a painful year so far but as I held my passport staring at my visa, the pain simply did not matter anymore. The pain vanished and I think I laughed and cried and laughed and cried for over 1 hour. I was happy. You see, being happy is not an emotion I feel often but at that moment I started to feel what happiness feels like and I can only pray this last forever.
To my family, for going the extra mile to make this happen. To myself, for not giving up on me. Mercy, thank you for being with me through this journey ever since I sent you a dm in 2014 requesting info about studying in France. I love you, Mercy. I cannot thank you enough and I genuinely believe God sent you to me as an angel. Charlie and A, thank you for working on my applications with me. Desola, thank you for the help and support, Seyi, thank you for being with me through this. Koye, thank you for helping that stranger wholeheartedly. Kemi, words cannot explain how much I love you. For being such a listening ear, for being such a rock I can fall back on, for stopping me from hurting myself and loving me just because. To Ndali, Damola, Fola, Sile, Kiki, Awazi, Ahunna and all my friends who have been with me and assisted me one way or the other. Thank you so much. I love you all. Because of your love and support for me, I am here, I am happy and I have a reason to live to see another day.
Cheers, To Paris, To New Beginnings.
