Andréanne's Journal - October 2024

Today, I’m writing this journal from my very first on-site trip to school! I had been thinking about enrolling into a program for a while. I wanted to learn and be better, so much so that it’s been an obsession in the last few months! If you didn’t know. I’ve had a fairly short academic career. I started on a college diploma in accounting and management but I never finished. I was so bad at accounting that it’s almost funny. Every semester, my teachers would tell me: “Well, this doesn’t seem to be easy for you. We’ll explain it in more detail next semester.” But, semester after semester, I understood absolutely nothing. After a while I went to see a guidance counselor and that’s when he asked me: “Do you think you need accounting in your life? Is it really necessary?” And I thought about it and replied “well, no… of course I won’t need that.” 

I had accumulated enough academic credits to receive what is called a “DEC without distinction.” I often joke that it’s a diploma that is awarded when the school administration takes pity on you. Once I received it, I had no idea where I wanted to go or what I wanted to do. The guidance counselor simply told me to think about my passions and suggested that, in time, I might find a solution. I decided to enroll in the Bachelor of Communication and Politics and the University of Ottawa. Since I’d received the DEC without distinction I saved one year of university in Ontario, but I ended up leaving the program after one year anyways. 

I talked about my current program in more detail in the last SF journal, but basically I just started the elite program at the École d’Entrepreneurship de Beauce. It’s a two-year intensive program that includes a mix of online classes and in-person training. Every two months we travel to the school for five days of hands-on learning. There are 12 modules to finish over the two years that cover different subjects. When we’re at the school, we learn, eat and sleep there. Five days away from my team, my boyfriend and Rofiiii. 

It’s Friday, October 25 as I write these lines, and I’ve been here since Tuesday. Our days are long, full and intense, but in all sincerity, I LOVE IT. I’ve already made friends. It must be said that in our cohort, there are nearly 30 of us and only 6 girls! 

It’s indescribable how proud I am to have made the choice to invest in my training. It’s super challenging. I seem super outgoing, but I’m really awkward in a group of strangers. I don’t know exactly where this schooling will take me, but I’m sure it will be beneficial. 

I’ll give you more details about this adventure eventually. I won’t go into the details of what I’m experiencing, but I can’t wait to tell you how this training will impact my role as a manager!