Roxane’s Veterinary Studies: From Two Repeated Years to a New Route

At 24, Roxane knows the distinctive sound of alarms going off too early, suitcases packed again in a rush and video calls freezing at exactly the wrong moment. A few years ago, she imagined herself entering veterinary school in France, white coat over her shoulders and anxious dogs waiting in the surgery. Then came two repeated years, a failed entrance exam and a decision that surprised those around her: moving 1,300 kilometres from home to study. Now in her third year, she is still learning to care for animals, but she has also learnt how to live far from her family, translate her course materials and stop mistaking a detour for failure. Her journey challenges conventional expectations.

Two repeated years and a failed entrance exam: when everything starts to unravel

In the corridors of her former secondary school, Roxane had come to know the invigilators’ faces better than those of some pupils in her year group. Repeating a year once is hard enough to explain, especially when everyone else is heading into higher education with boxes to pack and neatly mapped-out plans. Repeating two years is different: the questions become heavier, as do the silences. Yet she held on to the same goal of joining a veterinary course, despite inconsistent grades and the feeling that she constantly had to prove she was capable.

When the entrance exam results were released, what she remembers most is a screen, a list of names and a knot in her stomach. Her name was not there. In that moment, disappointment did not look like a dramatic film scene; it was more like swallowing a meal without any appetite, leaving messages unanswered for a while and being afraid to break the news. We all know that moment when a very specific plan slips away just before we can reach it.

Veterinary entrance exams remain highly demanding selections, where academic performance never tells the whole story. Places are limited, applicants are extremely well prepared and the pressure often builds over several years. For Roxane, the setback was harsh, but in some ways useful: it compelled her to consider options she had previously refused to entertain. Her dream had not vanished; she simply had to accept that it might not be reached through the door she had originally chosen.

Moving away to study when staying feels safer

1,300 kilometres from home, Roxane found herself in a daily life without familiar reference points. She had to find somewhere to live, get used to a new city, navigate different administrative procedures and shop in a supermarket where none of the brands meant anything to her. Studying far from home is not just about the distance shown on a map. It is a chain of small choices: catching a bus, asking for directions, cooking alone after a long day of lectures and ringing her parents without showing them how difficult the day has been.

Her advice to students who are hesitating would be straightforward: do not wait until you feel completely ready. Nobody truly is when it is time to leave their teenage bedroom, friends and routines behind. Before she left, Roxane compared course content, living costs, placement opportunities and the arrangements for degree recognition. This stage may feel detached from the emotion of leaving, but it prevents many disappointments. A robust plan is also built with a spreadsheet, a few phone calls and some very practical questions.

A common mistake is to think that a different direction wipes out all the years that came before it. Roxane spent a long time seeing her repeated years as a stain on her record, when they had actually given her a particular resilience in the face of difficulties. Let us be honest: nobody really celebrates having failed every day. Sometimes it takes time to recognise what those years have taught: working differently, asking for help and taking bad news without giving up everything else.

“I stopped counting the years I had lost on the day I realised I was finally where I belonged,” Roxane says.

• Check exactly how the intended qualification will be recognised.
• Set a realistic budget for accommodation, transport and trips back home.
• Speak to students who are already enrolled at the institution you are considering.
• Put a support network in place, even at a distance, for periods of discouragement.

In her third year, Roxane is no longer trying to catch up with anyone

Today, Roxane’s days move between lectures, practical work, revision and student life away from those close to her. Third year leaves little room for regrets: there are subjects to master, technical skills to practise repeatedly and exams that come around quickly. In her everyday life, she is no longer “the girl who failed the entrance exam”. She is a veterinary student like any other, with her strengths, her tiredness and the very tangible joy of finally understanding a difficult concept.

Other people’s perspective has changed, or perhaps it is her own that has shifted. At first, some relatives asked whether she intended to return soon, as though this move could only be temporary. Now, they speak more about her placements, her favourite subjects and the next stage of her course. Sometimes you need to go further away for others to understand the direction you are taking. That distance has given her a kind of independence she had not expected.

Her story highlights an uncomfortable reality: straightforward journeys are often easier to tell than uneven ones. Yet detours are far from unusual. Moving to another country, starting again after rejection or allowing yourself an extra year guarantees nothing, but it can create an unexpected opportunity. At 24, Roxane does not feel behind. She is moving at her own pace, carrying a heavier bag than expected and a determination that no ranking can truly measure.

Roxane’s journey speaks to far more students than we might think

There is something deeply familiar in her story for anyone who has ever felt ashamed of a school report, a change of course or a year that looked nothing like what had been planned. Academic success is often presented as a straight line: the right pathway, the right entrance exam, the right age and then the right job. Real life is rarely so tidy. It is full of delays, closed doors, unexpected departures and difficult conversations around the family table.

Roxane does not turn her two repeated years into trophies. She knows what they cost her in confidence, energy and sometimes money. But she also refuses to let them become the only sentence used to describe her future. This change in perspective matters: failure can remain painful without becoming permanent. It can even teach someone to choose more clearly, away from other people’s judgement and imposed routes.

At a time when many students compare themselves on social media with apparently flawless paths, her journey brings a simple truth back into focus: the age printed on a student card says nothing about a person’s perseverance. Those who feel out of step may see in it a quiet permission to look for another route. Callings do not always disappear after rejection; sometimes, they simply take a longer train.

Key point	Detail	Value for the reader
A setback does not erase a plan	Roxane failed the veterinary entrance exam after repeating two years.	Understand that rejection can lead to an alternative route.
Mobility requires genuine preparation	She studies 1,300 kilometres from home, with an entirely new daily life to organise.	Plan ahead for the budget, accommodation and recognition of the course.
Age does not define success	At 24, she is in her third year of veterinary studies.	Put the pressure of the “right age” and direct paths into perspective.