Alex Deserres '19

Alex Deserres is a bright young woman who attended Neuchâtel Junior College in 2019. NJC was Alex’s first time leaving home after spending her entire life in Montréal where she attended Villa Sainte-Marcelline. She is an extroverted 20-year-old living away from home for the second time.

Alex is currently studying abroad in Dublin, Ireland as a McGill exchange student as well as travelling around Europe. She is getting her degree for BA in Industrial and Labour Relations. She touches base with her friends from NJC every now and then but has learned to love her life in Ireland. She has made many friends there and has had a supportive relationship for five years. Alex has been very successful with her education.

NJC has a huge impact on Alex’s life. She says that her pension had the biggest impact on her experience. She spent a lot of time with her pension at their cottage on the lake, sailing and enjoying dinner with them each night. She was close with her pension mom and her child because they were close in age. Alex had lots of fun with her pension and is glad to have had this experience. “NJC allows you to discover in other ways,” says Alex, “It’s the one time in your life you’re on your own”. Alex is thankful for her pension experience and how it opened her eyes to new opportunities. The NJC experience made it easier to see the world and it taught her to be aware of the things around her. The school's impact on her life benefited her as a person and taught her so much about herself.

Throughout Alex’s NJC experience and the impact it had on her, she learned so many valuable lessons. She shared some of those lessons in her interview. “Take pictures with your eyes”, she said. She found that Switzerland was the most beautiful place she had ever seen. She said to travel around Switzerland as much as possible because it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. When students go home, she said that university is much more difficult than NJC and to expect real life to hit in the first year. It isn’t Switzerland anymore, and the alps are definitely not visible from Toronto or Ottawa. Her best advice is that students grow during their time at NJC, but friends back home might not. NJC students mature a lot as they study abroad. Her final piece of advice, which was by far the most fun, was to do the water rafting excursion!

Alex is very fond of Switzerland and was keen on recommending places like Lucerne and Geneva for day trips. She truly loves it and was even in Neuchâtel for a visit this past year. Although she loves the country, she also loved the different trips that she went on. She saw places like Italy, Russia, France, Belgium, England and many more. From Bruges to Normandy to Italy, she has experienced the world and now continues seeing the world in Dublin. After living in Switzerland, visiting Prestige, seeing London and bonding with her pension, she is a strong woman and believes that NJC changed her life for the better.