La vie de stagiaire: my internship at MyFrenchLife – Gabrielle Dauby

I remember coming across MyFrenchLife.org completely by accident. I had just moved to Melbourne, I was desperately looking for a job, and I was searching for all things French in the city.

I ended up on the Meetup French conversation group, I was intrigued by the ‘MyFrenchLife’ icon, and I clicked… It turns out that looking for a place where my French would be needed was the best decision I made this year!

How did I come to be at MyFrenchLife?

When I moved to Melbourne after completing my Master’s degree, I knew I wanted to gain some relevant work experience for when I got back home. Honestly, when I found out the internship was unpaid it was too late: I was hooked already.

This internship was exactly what I had been looking for, and I decided to follow my passion rather than listening to my wallet screaming “you need to earn some money!” I haven’t regretted my decision for any second since last October.

What did I do as an intern?

When I started working, I had no idea of what I would work on. I discovered and learned new things every single day: I found a new passion for formatting articles (MyFrenchLife speak for making articles look nice!), juggled hundreds of articles, got angry at SEO, enjoyed communicating with writers and fellow team members, and much more.

Interning for MyFrenchLife.org taught me so much that I am still unable to comprehend how much I have learned; from sub-editing to publishing, content planning to content strategy, and from being trained to training other team members… I discovered a new passion for all things behind-the-scenes, loving the satisfaction you get when you brought a project from scratch to the final product – quelle fierté !

“Going to work every day to do what you love is priceless.”

My biggest challenge at MyFrenchLife.org was working in English. I have been studying English for about 10 years now, and although I was convinced my English was very good, I realised I still had so much to learn, and I think I can proudly say that after seven months working with the team here, my English is now excellent. This will remain my biggest challenge and biggest achievement of my time as an intern.

What does it mean to be a MyFrenchLife team member?

I am still amazed by how this magazine works, run by a small core of people but involving dozens of contributors and team members based all around the world. Me, the Belgian girl, I was in touch with contributors and interns in Paris, London, New York, Chicago, Sydney – all of that happening from Melbourne.

All of these people linked by the same passion, following this passion, and working with passion. Because that’s also what MyFrenchLife.org is about… passion!

My time in Melbourne wouldn’t have been the same if I hadn’t been working for the magazine. Going to work every day to do what you love is priceless.

Working with the team has been amazing, and I know I will always remember this experience, and hopefully this will open me the doors to my dream – combining literature, food, photography and travel all at once!

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