After many months of finding an internship and finishing the paperwork, it is finally time.
Today I booked my flight for New York. After visiting this city when I was 12, I always dreamt of living there, for a little time at least. And so today is the day. In a few days, I wil finish packing up my suitcase and leave for my first great adventure, all by myself on the other side of the world. Very exciting!
I got this crazy opportunity mainly thanks to my school. Basically at EPFL, after our bachelor’s degree we are obliged to do 12 months of internship in order to apply for a master’s degree. We can arrange the internship period however we want. Most of my friends chose the easy option. Either staying in our homecountry or some other french speaking place. I was always curious of the world, different cultures and so I decided, for a first trip to try something I was vaguely familiar.
Every country has a different approach to architecture. Since I am still a student, I believe it is very important for me to explore all these perspectives to find the one that suits me best. The office I will be interning in focuses on renovation of old Brownstone houses. Renovation is something I am very interested in as it is one of the most sustainable to conceive architecture. It is also super ingrained in local life as most of these houses are about a century old – so much history, fascinating!
Other than the length of the process, which was quite frustrating sometimes – because I just had to wait for people to sign documents and I couldn’t do anything about it – everything went quite smoothly. Even the embassy interview was quick! The visa officers were very friendly, which was super reassuring as these kind of stuff tend to be stressfull.
Now I only need to finish packing up my stuff and say goodbye to my loved ones and say hello to a brand new world! Excited to see what New York has to offer – architecture and lifestyle wise!
