2023-07-08 14:35:00
Miron Motulko arrived in Normandy in March 2022, shortly after the start of the war in Ukraine. At 18, he has just obtained his baccalaureate, with honors.
By Nicolas Barreiro for Le Point It only took a year for this young Ukrainian to graduate (illustration). © ADRIEN FILLON/ Hans Lucas via AFP Published on 07/08/2023 at 2:35 p.m.
“I didn’t understand a single word of the lessons. Miron Motulko, 18, arrived in France in March 2022 shortly after the start of the war in Ukraine. With his family, he crossed Moldova and Romania until arriving in Normandy, in Siouville (Manche), reports The Parisian. Despite this journey, marked by the traumatic images of war, this young boy quickly learned French and obtained his baccalaureate this summer, with honors.
For Miron, it all begins the night of February 24, 2022. “My mother came to wake me up in the night. She said to me: “Miron, it’s war.” I do not believe it. But on TV, the images left no doubt. And then, above all, the first bombardments, at my home, very close to Odessa, began. We left by car without even knowing where to go, ”he confides to the daily, in almost impeccable French. Indeed, once he arrived in France, he quickly joined the Lycée Grignard, in Cherbourg, where he multiplied his efforts to catch up with the level of his comrades. READ ALSO The Incredible Story of Ukraine’s “Music Soldiers”
“Admiring but not surprised”
“Initially, I didn’t understand a single word of the lessons. I spoke only in English with the teachers and the other students. But during the summer, I understood that I had to stop and try to speak only in French,” Miron told the Parisian. “I started talking more and more with the other students, and now it’s better,” he continues. READ ALSO A school for refugee children from Ukraine at the Institut de France Winning the baccalaureate after spending only a year in France remains a feat, but it did not surprise the teenager’s teachers. “I am deeply admiring but not surprised,” says her teacher Aurélie Cordier. “He is a brilliant student but also very sociable, deeply endearing. […] Seeing the path that Miron has traveled in a year and his level of French, I assure you that it makes you humble, ”she explains.
The new bachelor was accepted in cognitive sciences in Lyon, where he will continue his studies at the start of the school year. Considering doing a master’s degree abroad, he still hopes to return to Ukraine one day.
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