And then comes June… | Hafida, Morocco

June is the most awaited month of the year, students will relate to what I am pointing at. June means the end of the school year and the beginning of summer. For other students, June announces the end of a whole chapter in your life, the end of an educational journey and the beginning of a new one. It’s that time of the year when everyone is rushing themselves into getting a job and integrating the job market. Throughout the past five years, I saw myself in some simple internships, either in a bank in my little city or in an institution which did not enable me to receive the experience I really needed. I needed to explore the professional world, to see myself in it. So I started asking myself, why do others get the chance to spend their internship periods in highly qualified and well-known companies? How do they do so? Can I also get that chance? During my final year, I knew that I needed a three month internship so that I could pass my last semester and graduate. In order to do so, I updated my CV, printing out as many copies as you can imagine, and headed off to Casablanca to deposit those résumés in the hands of several companies. I was hoping to get a call from an HR manager to pass into the interview phase. All I needed was an internship. All I needed was three months. All I needed was a call. I spent several weeks going back and forth to Casablanca- no call, no sign, no response. What had I done wrong? Why was I being rejected? Was something lacking on my résumé? If that was the case, why didn’t they call to let me know that they’re not interested in my application? Months went by. I passed my 9th semester, yet the internship was still out of reach. People in my class were already getting themselves ready for their internships, either abroad or in Morocco, and I was still lost with no internship opportunity to my name. By the time January came, I was sitting at home looking at available job openings and internships and still, no response… To spare you the details, I ended up getting the famous internship after a long hiring process. Now, while I am writing to you, dear reader, I wonder why some people have opportunities just fall into their laps while others have to struggle and go through stress. Is it because I come from a middle class family where no one in the family owns a company or happens to be friends with an HR manager or a big time CEO? The truth is, there is so much going on with students like me who are looking for a job or an internship, and few are those who actually get an internship because they truly deserve it. Most of the time, the job or the internship is a matter of who knows who. I now know that my résumés are lost somewhere in some office in just about every company I applied for an internship at. I doubt they ever got to the HR department. But here I am- finished with my studies and wondering why I would want to rush myself into the job market. I have dreams, and it’s those dreams that I am putting into action right now. It’s true that I get calls from some of my classmates telling me that they got hired, I congratulate them and life continues on for me. I am no longer interested in applying for a job that will limit my competences and leave me chained to a chair for the rest of my life for the sake of the salary. I have chosen not to go with the flow this time. I have chosen to correct the path I have missed once… Next year I will study and not work. I will register for my PhD and will continue with my studies in the English department at my university. I don’t need to do what others do. For once I need to be myself and do something for myself. I am drawing the traits of my life. I am reshaping my future. I am projecting myself in the long term. I know I will struggle and face lots hurdles that I will need to overcome, but who said I wasn’t struggling for the past few years. It’s those struggles that have defined the person I am today… for every time I overcome a problem, I am reborn with a new personality and new lessons learnt. Think about it, no one owes you anything. You pick the terms and set them for yourself. You live your life the way you want to and it will give you what you have longed for since forever. I am taking the risk of living my life. I choose not to blame the whole system for being so discriminating. I choose to be good enough to change it. Waiting for next June to come… No, not me… I am living for next June to come.