Swiss Review 5/2020

Swiss Review / September 2020 / No.5 26 “My grandparents emigrated many years ago fromthe ZurichOberland to Argentina. Consequently, my father grew up in a Swiss colony. Together with my mother, my family later set- tled in Puerto Rico Misiones. I was born in 1995, the youngest of two sis- ters. Our parents told us that going to school was very important. Formy six years of secondary school education, I moved 45 kilometres away to attend the Instituto Linea Cuchilla school in my father’s home village of Ruiz de Montoya. In addition to classroom learning, we always did lots of practi- cal work during my time there. The opportunity to come to Swit- zerland presented itself after I finished school. My parents’ former neigh- bours, who had remigrated from Ar- gentina to Switzerland, offered to let me livewith them. I therefore decided to move to Switzerland without any knowledge of the language or culture. I had great expectations of what awaited me, but quickly realised that things would not necessarily be so easy. At the beginning I found it hard to accept that my good school qualifi- cations counted for little in Switzer- land. The culture and the language were new to me, the world of work even more so. My parents had always impressed on us the importance of getting a university degree that would stand us in good stead for the future. It was in Switzerland that I learned that doing an apprenticeship was a vi- able alternative. Starting from square one was not what I had planned, but that is exactly what I did. During my integration year, I picked up the lan- guage and learned a lot about Swiss culture and the work environment. My teachers were very helpful and committed to each and every student. Time in the classroom was supple- mented by weekly one-day work placements in various professional settings. The integration yearwas very useful, and I am grateful that Switzer- land offers it as an option. I got to knowmy current employer during a trial traineeship. I did an in- ternship in my first year, followed by a three-year apprenticeship as a child- care specialist – which I finished in summer 2019. Not only do I still work as a childcare specialist at the nursery school that took me on as an intern, but I am also preparing to study as a social education worker. This two- year course will take place at the Ago- gis training centre in Olten, culminat- ing in a Federal Diploma HF (College of Higher Education). I would not have been able to do vocational training without the sup- port of educationsuisse and a scholar- ship from my home canton of Zurich. I very much appreciated the individ- ual advice and assistance that I re- ceived from educationsuisse.” (RG) Testimonies from young Swiss Abroad are regularly published on the educationsuisse Facebook page and at www.educationsuisse.ch. educationsuisse, Ausbildung in der Schweiz, Alpenstrasse 26, 3006 Bern, SCHWEIZ Tel. +41 31 356 61 04 ; info @ educationsuisse.ch; www.educationsuisse.ch Raquel Weidmann Photo provided A story of integration Educationsuisse provides advice to young Swiss Abroad who come to Switzerland to further their education. Raquel Weidmann is one such expatriate. She talked to us about her experiences after arriving in Switzerland. OSA News educationsuisse Tel .+41 31 356 61 04 Fax+41 31 356 61 01 info@educationsuisse.ch www.educationsuisse.ch Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA) Alpenstrasse 26 CH-3006 Berne Tel. +41 31 356 61 00 Fax +41 31 356 61 01 info@aso.ch www.aso.ch www.revue.ch www.swisscommunity.org Our partners: Foundation for Young Swiss Abroad Tel .+41 31 356 6116 Fax+41 31 356 61 01 info@sjas.ch www.sjas.ch