Hello I’m Myriam

I am 17 years old and enjoy singing, shopping, listening to music, sport, going out at night to restaurants, cinema, etc…

Tell us about where you are from in France?

I’m from Marseille, a big city in the south of France. Previously the name of the city was Massilia, don’t ask me why, I really don’t remember 😀 Here’s something important to know about it? It is very sunny! In Maidstone the “must have” is an umbrella, but in Marseille it’s definitely the sunglasses!

I think two of the most important aspects of life in my city are “The Summer” (we have beautiful beaches) and “The Football” (our team is Olympic de Marseille). We have many places to visits, many malls for shopping, and a lot of beaches to tan.

The “Marseillais” (people who live in Marseille) are proud of our accent which is unique to the South of France, so much so that a lot of French people from other regions in the country can have trouble understanding us.

Plus the foods are totally better than England.

Why did you come to England for your work experience?

Since I was 11 years old, I have loved English and am really interested in the English and American singers.

I started my studies in a College General and my English was really good so they put me in the European section but this didn’t interest me enough so I decided to change to Professional Studies. I am currently study Admin Work in the vocational High School Frederic Mistral and this is my last year.

There are 5 periods of work experience that I have had to complete during my 3 years studying Admin and 1 period is in England because I’m in European section.  Not all students in my class have the chance to do this work experience in England, you have to be responsible and good at English.

To complete work experience in England allows me to improve my English and discover a new way of working in a different culture.

What does Kent Foundation for Young Entrepreneurs do? What was your role?

Kent Foundation is a charity enterprise that helps young peoples to start their own business. They find a Volunteer Business Mentor for each young business person to support them.

The Mentor meets the young business person and they work together on business problems. The Mentors have attended training to be prepared for this experience.

Some tasks that I completed were:
– Participated and engaged with young people and business owners at exhibitions.
– Create documents such as minutes of meetings, posters, risk assessments, organisation charts etc
– Participate in meetings with Mentors, Mentees and Volunteers.
– Redesign the notice board at the entrance.

Where did you go and what did you see on your stay to England?

During my 3 weeks in Maidstone, I went to London visiting Camden Town where you can find a bargain so I bought some clothes, I also went to Oxford Street via Piccadilly Circus. I went just the once to London because the train from Maidstone to London is expensive…

We also celebrated the birthday of a boy in my class by having a night out bowling.

When I was with my teachers in October, we visited Leeds Castle, Historic Dockyard in Chatham and Madame Tussaud’s in London and of course I went in to Maidstone Town for some shopping and souvenirs…

What have you learnt from your experience?

During my work experience I learnt to:

– Develop my language skills
– Discover a new culture, a new way of life
– Be more mature, be independent
– Be aware about the clothes i’m wearing e.g. formal/informal
– Listen and respond
I will always keep a good souvenir about this work experience in my memory, it was exceptional for me to do it in England and with great people. I met so many people during meetings and events, all the things that I did were really interesting. It was a one off chance for me to work in this enterprise with Paul and Liam, they are so passionate about their jobs 🙂

THANK YOU FOR THE EXPERIENCE