Simone – A new challenge in France

A story by Simone Mazzoni; country of origin: Italy – Destination country: France

In 2010, after I graduated in Social Sciences – Bologna University – I decided to take part in an international exchange program: there are multiple reasons.

First of all, I had never spent a long-term period abroad thus far – except for holidays; I really felt the need to see what was going on beyond the borders of my country

Secondly, I wanted to improve my language skills… and that experience really helped

I then decided to apply for a Leonardo da Vinci program; I guessed it was the perfect training program for that period of my life; it claimed to provide with language classes and a 2 or 3 months internship (according to the project): That was exactly what I was looking for

I applied for several projects, and I was eligible for 3 of them, I chose the best one for me in terms of balance between Country/Language and project proposed

That is why I landed in Bordeaux in February 2011.. It has been exactly 3 years so far!

The program came to an end, and I decided to stay for professional purposes and “sentimental reasons”

Actually, the project did not change much in my professional life; I had to further my education with a master’s degree, changing the professional segment of activity (I didn’t succeed in getting a job in the sustainable development domain).

On the other hand this experience really “opened my mind” and changed my personal life; it allowed me to get to know another culture, to meet a lot of people from different countries, and above all, to enrich my personal baggage of experiences.

Now I have a short term contract, working for an international recruitment company; I expect them to propose a permanent one from July on, we will see! So for the moment.. I am staying in Bordeaux, even though I would like to go back to Italy and work in my country in the near future!

I would certainly advise mobility experiences to my friends, I would do it again if I could!