Meeting with Louis PROUTEAU-COUTON (class of 2027)

To accompany the month of November, the Foundation is pleased to present the story of Louis Prouteau Coulon, class of 2027 of EM Normandie's Grande Ecole program and Foundation scholarship student.

THE STORY OF A YOUNG VENDEEN

Louis lives with his family in the small Vendée commune of Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez. In the heart of this rural setting, where everyone knows everyone else, he has grown up with the values of sharing and solidarity. In 2021, he passed his baccalauréat STMG in the midst of a pandemic, a period that made it difficult for many students to project themselves into the future. Inspired by his mother and driven by a desire to travel and discover new cultures, Louis embarked on EM Normandie's international program, despite the challenges of his rural environment. As early as his first year on the Grande École program, he became involved in the International Council, an association dedicated to welcoming and supporting the school's international students.

FROM VENDEE TO ENGLAND

His training at EM Normandie began in Oxford, in his first year, where he lived with a host family of Pakistani origin. This cultural immersion was also marked by the reality of the cost of living in England, with rents reaching 800 euros minimum. Thanks to the help of his parents and grandparents, supplemented by a loan of over 10,000 euros, Louis is continuing his studies. Benefiting from a CROUS scholarship, he has also been working since the age of 17 to lighten his daily expenses: fruit and vegetable seller, baker, barman. Despite his efforts, the costs proved too high for his family. It was thanks to the school's social worker, and the support of the EM Normandie Foundation, that Louis was awarded two scholarships, "Méritant scolaire" and "Aléas de la vie", enabling him to pursue his studies at the School with greater peace of mind.

REALIZE YOUR EXPATRIATION DREAMS

Thanks to these scholarships, Louis was able to do an internship in China in his second year of school, as a marketing sales assistant at a local drone company in Wuxi, near Shanghai. Today, in his third year at the age of 21, he is pursuing his dream of living abroad with a six-month expatriation to the United States. At the same time, he finances his daily life by giving French and math lessons to international children, a way for him to combine cultural exchange with his values of sharing and solidarity.

ENCOUNTERS, THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND ITS FUTURE

In the future, Louis plans to work for a company abroad, in a role where human relations are important. He sees himself perhaps one day becoming a teacher to pass on his knowledge, inspired by his mentoring experiences in the various countries he has visited: "Meeting new people is what has made me grow the most." His motto is summed up in a quote from James Norbury: "What's more important," asked Grand Panda, "the journey or the destination? - The company... replied Little Dragon. "

Louis' story is another real-life example of the impact the EM Normandie Foundation can have on students' lives.