My gap year in Canada

Improve my level of English

The main goal of my gap year was to improve my level of English. It is extremely important for me to know how to speak fluent english. Indeed, I will have an international career and I want to be able to exchange with people from other cultures.

Discover a new culture

My curiosity drives me in the discovery of new cultures. Living in another country offers the possibility to better understand of how the world works and to gain perspective on our own situation.

Find my professional desires

After my Bachelor’s degree I had to choose a Master’s degree. In May, I realized that I wanted to focus on sustainability, but as it’s such a broad field and I wasn’t yet sure which area interested me most, I knew I needed more time. A gap year was exactly what I needed to think about what would make me happy in my work.

Have new professional experiences

I wanted to have more meaningful experiences related to sustainable development, but also to discover work and workplaces that I had never experienced before.

Montreal

I first arrived in Montreal where I had to find a place to live and a job. I didn’t know anyone there, so I had to fend for myself. I ended up perfectly by finding two part-time jobs, one remotely in a CSR consulting company and another one in the National Bank of Canada as transactional advisor. At the same time, I found a flat shared with a quebecoise, the perfect way to discover the culture. I stayed there for three and a half months, during which I met a variety of people, some of whom became friends. Together, we traveled around Québec to explore and discover the region.

Banff

In order to improve my English I needed to go to the English part of Canada. It was thanks to this desire to fulfill my goal that I ended up in the Rockies in Banff for 3 months. Not wanting to fly out of environmental convictions, I drove across Canada to Banff.

There, I found two jobs, one in a hostel and another as line cook in a restaurant. I improved my English and discovered jobs I had never done before. I met many wonderful people from diverse nationalities, and discovering new cultures was both amazing and fascinating. Living in the middle of nature it makes me realized how strong my desire to protect it is.

Tofino

Still with the aim of avoiding flying, I tried with taking the train to Vancouver for 23 hours. Still with the aim of avoiding flying, I tried taking the train to Vancouver for 23 hours. Then I sailed and drove to Tofino. This village on the Pacific coast was another wonderful find. If someone had told me before that I would be surfing and seeing orcas in Canada, I wouldn’t have believed them! But there I was, meeting new people, discovering new places, working in a hostel, and still discovering myself.