Jonathan was born in 2004 in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. He didn’t know his father, and he lost his mother when he was 12. Three years later, a friend of his family brought him to France. “And a few months later, he couldn’t keep me, says the teenager, so he put me on the train to send me to Brest.”
Jonathan has no papers, he doesn’t know where to go. He spends the night at the station, then seeks help from social services. It is another migrant who tells him about the courses given by the Adjim, an association for helping young isolated migrants. For the boy who has not set foot in school for more than three years, this will be the first contact with education in France.
“I had trouble, he remembers, but I worked all summer.” So much so that in September, he made up for the missed college years… A high school in Brest then accepted him in second general and technological. “I put a little pressure on myself, Jonathan explains, but I had no choice.” High school, he thought, “this is where I can do something to change my future”…
On Parcoursup, 26 admission proposals
Teachers are quickly impressed by his grades “brilliant in all matters”. They are not at the end of their surprises: the day of the Parcoursup results, Jonathan finds… 26 admission proposals. Never seen : “All his wishes in engineering school, in preparatory class accepted, plus all the others behind… Exceptional.”
“He has taken his destiny into his own hands. It’s quite extraordinary. He knows exactly where he wants to go, and he does it”
Brigitte Millet, from the Adjim association (Support for young isolated migrants)to “Special Envoy”
Despite “a nice article”, a full page in West France, “journalists everywhere” who contact him, Jonathan keeps a cool head: “It’s too much, anyway! does he think. I’m not a celebrity, I haven’t done anything special.” After getting his baccalaureate with honors “Very good” and 16.32 average, the young man chose to join a prestigious engineering school in Lyon.
Extract from “From undocumented to engineer”, a report to see in “Special Envoy” on October 27, 2022.
Jonathan obtained papers, but still does not have money to finance his engineering studies, which are very expensive. The association that helps him has set up an online kitty for people who would like to help him: https://adjim.org/don-pour-la-scolarisation/
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