Hey everyone, I am going to start by giving you guys a little back story.

I was born and raised in the south of France in a small town called Marignane. As far as I can remember I had an obsession for the Olsen Twins (I already know what you’re thinking haha), which made me absolutely fascinated by the US. I remember being bothered by the fact that i couldn’t understand them and was frustrated by the horrible voice over that didn’t sound like them at all. Since then I decided I was going to be fluent in english, and that I was eventually going to find a way to move to the US. A few years later when I was 14 I went on my first trip to NYC and absolutely fell in love comforting me in my idea to move abroad. Three years later I did an exchange program in Minneapolis which once again, made me realize, that living in the United States was something I really wanted to do and that I was going to go after my dream no matter what.

Now let’s get into the REAL story. When I was about 18 I heard about the Au Pair program, which consist of you being a nanny in a family in the US for a year (or more) and this helps you learn the language, and all about the American culture. You live with the family as a new member and help take care of the kids. It’s in 2015 that I enrolled in this Au Pair program and left for the unknown in a year of adventure that turned into two. I spent the best 2 years of my life. The family that I worked for was wonderful and to this day they are still my “American family”. I did a lot of travel, met a lot of friends, and learned so much about the country, the culture and myself.

Then in 2016, in between my first and second year as an Au Pair, I decided to file an application for the Green Card lottery, which, if I was selected, would give me the opportunity to live permanently in the US. I remember May 2nd 2017, as I was watching one of the latest episode of Pretty Little Liars, the results were out and instead of having the refusal letter I had anticipated, the letter said that I was selected to move on to the next step. I was in complete shock, and just blown away that I was part of the lucky ones that are given this chance. Little side note, the Green Card lottery isn’t as easy as I thought, you don’t just get it shipped to you after being selected, it does get shipped to you, but you have a whole list of things to do and paperwork to gather and to bring with you to a future interview at the US embassy which then, and only then, you will know if your case is approved and if you can pack your things and go. So after getting the results, I knew that my interview wasn’t going to be before another 6 months at least, so I finished my second year as an Au Pair and went back to France in August 2017. I started working on my paperwork and all the requirements needed by the embassy. Later this year I received an Email from the government letting me know the date and time of my interview, it was set for January 17th 2018 at the US embassy in Paris. I went to Paris with my dad for a few days prior to my interview, and at the end of the interview I was told that my case was approved and that I had 6 months to move to the US. I flew back to New York June 7th 2018 and I’ve been living in the US ever since.

I have been absolutely blessed to have this chance and I wouldn’t do it any other way, even if being far from my family isn’t easy. I am happier than ever in the US, and I am proud of myself, a lot of it was luck, but I still nailed my interview haha. I am happy I did not give up on my dream and that I did everything I could to reach the end goal, and there is no greater joy and satisfaction than “making it”.

I have two YouTube video that I filmed on Green Card lottery, if you guys want to check it out click here for part one and here for part two 🙂

Xx Charline