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“Love the life you live and live the life you love” – a mantra that rings so true in the way this aspiring writer, actor and singer has gone about living her life.
While most reward themselves with a graduation trip around the world after university, Morgane decided to take a drama course in London to sharpen her acting skills while also working on the completion and publication of her first-ever novel!
In this interview article, Morgane reveals what life is like for her as a global citizen, having connections to and influences all over Europe like France, England, Italy and Russia. She also reflects about her experiences pursuing an IB diploma in Paris. Morgane shares about her varied interests and talents in the arts, mathematics and the sciences before concluding the interview with some worldly advice for young IB students.
Q: You definitely took the path less trodden. You completed your IB Diploma at the renowned Ecole Jeannine Manuel in Paris and graduated from the prestigious Yale-NUS College in Singapore. While I am sure most of your peers stayed behind in Europe, you chose to move to Singapore presumably on your own. What was behind this decision of yours?
When I was around 3 or 4 years old, my family actually lived in Singapore! While my dad is French, he never lived in France until we moved there in 2005. He grew up traveling the world, as his side of the family have been expatriates for generations. He actually did the IB at United World College (UWC) in Singapore! Although I did not remember much of Singapore at 18 when I decided to accept Yale-NUS’ offer, I knew it was a place I had a connection to and that my family had always loved. When my mom first heard of Yale-NUS from a presentation they gave us at my high-school (Ecole Jeannine Manuel) in Paris, she told me I absolutely have to apply – how cool is it, to have a liberal arts education in Singapore? When Yale-NUS accepted me and offered me a full-ride scholarship (Global Leader Scholarship), it was clear to me that this was the path to take. I had other options, including several schools in the UK as well as the famous Ecole Polytechnique in France (nicknamed “l’X ”). However, I wanted to experience something outside of Europe, to really get to discover another part of the world as a (very) young adult, and to rediscover this country that my parents had told me so much about, and that I remembered only snippets of.
Q: I confess. I did a quick google search and I found out that you are such a multi-talented individual. You are a writer, actress, teacher and singer. You also speak French, English, Russian and Italian! Please tell us more about all these interests and talents of yours?
Haha, thank you! My mom always encouraged me to explore as many avenues as you have an inclination for, to allow yourself the subsequent freedom of choice. I started acting classes when I was 3 years old, and have continued training to this day. In fact, I just completed a Shakespeare course at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in London! I have been in many, many productions, all the way from primary school to university, including my first professional contract at age 13, commercial work, short films, etc. I started training as a singer from the age of 10 when I joined a children’s choir, and then received vocal coaching while I was in band throughout high-school. In university, I really took my vocal training to the next level by being cast as the lead, Diana, in our production of the musical ‘Next to Normal’. An opera singer gave us coaching lessons in the months before the shows, while simultaneously teaching a singing class at Yale-NUS. This really offered me the classical training that brought my voice to the next level. Now, I have just completed the Musical Theatre summer course at RADA.
When it comes to writing, I have been writing for as long as I can remember. In university, I took several creative-writing based classes which allowed me to really understand writing as a craft, and to start writing my own nonfiction novel. Last summer, I applied and was selected for the Yale Writer’s Workshop program. Writing is something I want to continue doing while I continue training as an artist.
When it comes to languages – French, English, and Russian are all three my mother tongues (French and English more so, as I grew up in France and we speak English in the family). I learnt Russian orally from my mom and my grandmother on her side, and took my first ‘official’ lesson a couple semesters ago. It’s definitely a language I need to brush up on, but since I’ve grown up with it in some form or another my whole life, it comes to me very quickly once I start lessons. When it comes to Italian, I took it in high-school as a second European language. I love Italy very much, and find the language beautiful. Another language I did learn in primary school is actually Chinese! However, I stopped taking it when I entered high-school and remember about 2 sentences, and how to count to ten. If I had known then that Singapore was on the horizon for me, I would probably have kept taking it.
Q: So how and when did you get yourself involved with the arts and the languages? And how did you find the time to pursue these varied interests while studying for the IB and pursuing a degree?
My love for the arts feels so entrenched in who I am, that it’s difficult to pinpoint when exactly it started. I think it was always there, and then, I was encouraged to explore all aspects of it and to train my passion into a craft. For languages, it definitely comes from my family background, as well as my love for traveling and to explore new places and ways of living.
As for how I found the time – I ask myself that same question sometimes! It’s 100% time management, and how I value the free time that I have. In a lot of cases, I would rather go to an acting class for two hours, or a singing class, rather than anything else. It’s also the fact that all these things recharge me. They give me the energy to do all the other things I need to do, including academics. So that when I do sit down to write that essay, I can give it my full focus and complete the task faster, because I have allowed myself to spend two hours of my time earlier in the day doing something that I really love. If I did not love all these activities that I give a lot of my time and myself to, there is no way I would be able to sustain the pace. For example, in my final semester of university, I was in 6 different performances/showcases – some of them asked for far less of my time than others, while some of them required a lot of practices, then learning outside of practice times, and extra rehearsals. But I was able to do all those things because I loved to, and they gave me the energy I needed to complete my degree.
Q: Many people like to say that the IB Diploma is a rigorous program that prepares students for university. As an IB and University graduate, do you agree with this statement?
Yes, university did have its challenges! However, the IB program most definitely prepared me for it. In fact, I would say the IB felt more rigorous in many aspects – longer schedules, many, many more deadlines… the challenges with university were that, unlike the IB, there are no set guidelines per class. Each university professor tailors his lessons and has his own grading scheme, which can be disorienting for someone who is used to structure and working within a system. But the IB’s rigor ensured that I always knew how to manage my time, my priorities, and deadlines. So yes – I agree with this statement!
Q: One final question before I let you go. What advice would you give your slightly younger self - a 15/16 year old Morgane who is about to start on her two-year IB journey?
It’s going to be a non-stop, two-year long race: take the time to breathe every now and then, to really soak in the amazing work you’re doing, and to appreciate all the laughs you share with friends and all the human experiences you’re going to live through. Be gentle with yourself and have the reflective ability to be proud of how hard you’re working. And in those moments when you think the world is crumbling: it’s not. Life is going to find a way to organize itself in a better way than you could ever imagine. So take some time to enjoy the ride!
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