Nicolas Nadeau
About me...
- What?
- Madagascar. On the other side of the planet.
- So if I dig...
- Yup. Madagascar.
My brother’s roommate was at the table eating her granola, and being surprisingly informative for an early morning conversation.
I was in Vancouver, Canada, visiting my brother for a change of scenery, looking for a new life plan, fresh out of university and fresh out of a job. I had struck what I considered to be life plan gold the night before, having found out my acceptance to the Explore program.
I enthusiastically replaced my morning coffee mug with an earth globe and quickly had two fingers positioned on it, one on Western Canada, and the other on my soon-to-be adoptive island. I couldn’t help but wonder what I would uncover, who I would meet, where I would go, and if they drank coffee in the morning.
My name is Nicolas Nadeau. I’m 22, a French Canadian, and in less than a month I was (quite literally) on the other side of the planet.
What I learned while I was there…
A lot.
My advice would be...
Things will not always go exactly as planned. Such is the nature of development work in rural environments, but……you can’t spell misadventure without adventure!
Take setbacks with a smile, and try not to mull over the things you cannot change.
Truck breaks down? (it will)
Do: Take some time to kick back, relax, or explore your surroundings.
Don’t: Angrily stomp your foot next to truck until chassis is replaced. You’re going to be there a while…
