Jennifer Delahunt Mc Auley moved to Quebec City from Ottawa, Ontario, in January 2010.  She had recently graduated from Carleton University, her fiancé had just returned to Canada from a six-month tour in Afghanistan, and of course she had a wedding to plan.  Jennifer was excited for what her new life had in store for her.

After a few weeks of living here, Jennifer quickly came to realize that things were going to be a lot more difficult than she had originally thought.  Like many Anglophones, Jennifer was convinced that she was going to master the French language in no time and land her dream job.  As reality sunk in, she came to realize that this was not going to come as easily as she thought.  On top of the general frustrations that many newcomers face, Jennifer`s fiancé was told he was going to be deployed to Haiti for a couple of months.

Jennifer was faced with two choices: to sulk and wait for her fiancé to return or to take control of her life and do whatever was needed to make Québec her home.  Thanks to her inner strength and determination, Jennifer did just that.  She enrolled in French classes at the Centre Famille Valcartier, developed a routine at the gym, and even made some great friends.

After a few weeks of French classes, Jennifer developed some confidence to go out and practice what she had been learning.  Needless to say it was overwhelming, but the support she received from the Francophone community was so encouraging.  Her positive experience gave Jennifer the encouragement to continue with her French studies and enroll in the Francisation program.

In March 2010, Jennifer enrolled in a full-time French course at Centre de Phenix located in Ste-Foy.  She met a lot of new friends who were similar situations as she was, and those friends and teachers helped her to create a wonderful support system.  Jennifer went to Centre de Phenix for six months and would have loved to continue her studies there, but in September 2010 she found employment and started a new job.  She is now working in an English Elementary school and absolutely loves her new job and co-workers.

Jennifer has now been living here for 10 months and is in love with Quebec City.  In July of 2010, Jennifer and her husband were married and had their ceremony in Old Québec.  They decided to have a bilingual wedding and she even said some of her vows in French!

Despite the difficulties that Jennifer encountered in the beginning, she would really like to encourage newcomers to give Quebec City a chance and embrace all that it has no offer.  Jennifer and her husband are both fans of the outdoors and take full advantage of the many bike paths, rivers, and parks that help make the city so beautiful.

With some patience and hard work, Jennifer is now able to call Québec her home.