High school students in Saint-Martin, like everywhere else in France, are discovering their baccalaureate results today. This diploma marks the end of fifteen years of schooling, the first steps towards independence, and for some, opens the doors to higher education. Remember: 5, 10, or 20 years ago, you would walk, with butterflies in your stomach, to your high school, hoping to see your name displayed with that famous word: "Admitted." Today, graduates can also discover their results from home, surrounded by their parents, crossing their fingers that the website doesn't crash. But one thing hasn't changed: this very special moment remains etched in their memories. So we went to meet you to ask you to share this memory with us.
Nora:
“The results were given out on a Saturday morning, I remember. I was getting ready to go to the school, and unfortunately, a friend of my mother’s called me to say, ‘Congratulations!’ And I said to her, ‘Congratulations for what?’ And then she told me that she was already there and that she had seen my name. I was happy, but I would have preferred to find out for myself to really experience that joy. I went anyway to see with my own eyes if it was true… and I had indeed passed!”
Lakisha:
“I checked the results from home, and I was so happy because I saw that I passed with honors. That same evening, we celebrated with the family, we ate, we partied. My family was so proud, they all came over, and my friends who also passed their baccalaureate exams that day were there too. It was just amazing!”
Thierry:
“For me, it wasn’t the baccalaureate, but I remember very well when I passed my vocational diploma (BEP and CAP). It was in 1987, I told my parents that I had gotten both diplomas, and they didn’t believe me because I had had a bad school year. So they went and looked on the notice boards themselves, and they saw my name for both diplomas and they were so happy. My mother then threw a party at my aunt’s house and I was able to invite all my friends.”
Interview by DR
