Here is the first post-Piscine post. And from the date, you may have guessed that it took me 4 days to decompress (or almost so). I was about to use the after-space decompression metaphor but it’s probably a little far-fetched… This said it does feel like coming back from another planet. 42, and, Piscine, in particular, has a foreign land quality to it: its own rules, its own territory, its own citizens… Given the fact that I did turn into an abusive user of Uber this month, I was literally cut off from normal life and from most of the social interactions outside the 42 (warm metro atmosphere included). Luckily enough I miscalculated the overall length of the Piscine and so I had 3 days before having to dive back into my work routine.
Drawing from this experience I would definitely recommend giving yourself at least a week for the post-Piscine adaptation!
As the last mail said the final results will be reaching our mailboxes within 2 weeks after the last exam, and I will surely keep you posted on that.
As per my own estimate, I really can’t tell… From the last vmontagn rating I should be somewhere in the top 30% in terms of the overall scores. At the same time, the only exam I passed was the final one and it was really a bare minimum, so… Adding to my pessimistic self always expecting the worst, I prefer not to advance my assumptions in any direction.
And thus I figured it’s best not to think about it. Given the fact that I have to get back to cruising working world highways on Monday, I won’t have much time anyway.
And to get as smooth a transition as possible I opted for a slow withdrawal from this euphoric experience. I kept a little connection to this wonderland thanks to the videos I filmed over the last week. I will be adding one by one to each of the daily posts I did before. And if you want to see them all at once – the dedicated youtube channel is your new destination.
And to finish this up I decided to do some kind of a numbered report of all the good, the bad, and the ugly of this past month.
So here it goes.
THE FINAL COUNT
THE GREAT
I did manage to keep with my schedule and get at least 5h of sleep every night
I did manage to appreciate every single moment of this amazing experience and to feel happy even when it at the hardest and most desperate moments
I did manage to miss more than 20 people and make 5 really close friends.
I did manage not to get any TIG (“travail d’interet general” = “social work penalty”)
I did manage to stick to my writing objectives
I did not regret spending my vacations at the Piscine
I did manage to film 25 interviews
I did manage to work 15h a day
I did manage to do yoga every single day
I did manage to eat well for the total duration of the piscine
I did manage not to get ill
I did manage to smile every day for the 25 days I’ve been there
I did manage to still like the people I worked with for 12+ hours every day
I did manage to bear my ugly profile picture for 25 days! (and thanks to Bodo it has been changed just in time so that I can visit my homepage at least without saying “Jeez, it’s just soon ugly”)
THE “NOT SO GREAT”
I did not finish the program and was gloriously unproductive all week last week
I did not manage to escape Her Majesty The Procrastination for the good part of the experience (mostly the second half)
I did gloriously fail 3 out of 4 exams…
I did do crazy destress eat all day long snacking week right after the end
OVERALL
Well, to be fair I did have trouble finding the things to include in the second list, as I did enjoy every single day of the Piscine: the people I met, the challenges I managed to get through, the big fails and small wins… All of it!
And for the “How luckily you would recommend this experience to a friend?” on the scale of 1 to 10 it’s definitely a big bold 20!
“As the last mail said the final results will be reaching our mailboxes within 2 weeks after the final exam, and I will surely keep you posted on this.”
What’s the final result? Sorry, I can’t find it 🙁
Hello,
I just realized that I have never got to write it 🙂 But the short answer I did get in. I haven’t started the school yet though, hence no posts about it 🙂
Hello Ekaterian, did you receive the acceptance note 2 days after the piscine completion? If not, how long did it take for the email to arrive to your inbox?
Hello Romain,
It was about 2 weeks yes. It depends on the piscine and the workload, it can be that things changed since the time I was doing it.
In any case, you will get the email – it will be either positive or negative but it’ll land in your mailbox 🙂
When did you do the piscine?