Nice Premium: In what context did the results of the challenge take place?
Clément Fouquet: All the cities in competition were invited to Paris for a reception. It was held at the Grévin Museum with all the representatives from L’Express and M6. The magazine had invited the ten participating students from each school. We flew there from Nice. So, there were about a hundred students eagerly waiting for the results!
NP: How did the announcement of the result go?
CF: It was unbearable, they started from the end. They first detailed the results: best investigation, best sellers… Then they announced the third place around 10 PM: the Lille School of Journalism. We were super happy because it is supposed to be the best journalism school in France, or at least the most reputed. We knew we had beaten them! Afterwards, they said: “the 2nd is a controversial subject” and at that moment, we thought it was us but in fact, it was the Strasbourg school with a subject on Islam. They ended with the winners: us! It was madness! We exulted. We were ecstatic.
*“The best evening of my life”*
NP: How did you celebrate it?
CF: There was champagne and foie gras. L’Express had reserved a nightclub. We took an open-top bus to tour Paris at night, it was awesome. The party took place at Castel, a famous jazz club in the capital. There were many other participating students. We celebrated with due honor! I learned that Marseille also became the football champion of France. As a fervent supporter, I was over the moon. It was truly the best evening of my life! We stayed in the club until early morning.
NP: Then you returned to Nice?
CF: We took the plane at 6 AM this morning from Paris. We ate pasta Bolognese at the airport before takeoff! And as soon as we got on the plane, we fell asleep until Nice!
*“We made a triumphant return”*
NP: How did the return to school go?
CF: We went straight from the airport. We made a triumphant return. We went to sing and dance in all the classes! Marie Boselli (the principal) had tears in her eyes. We were truly heroes.
NP: What do you win by winning this challenge?
CF: For the 10 participating students from Nice, there are 1,000 euros each to take the plane. And most importantly, we all have between four to six months of paid internships at L’Express or M6. And our school gains national recognition. We worked extremely hard for six months on this project, so winning is really the dreamed culmination of all our efforts.
NP: And now, it’s 10 o’clock, what are you going to do?
CF: We’re going home! We will sleep and take a well-deserved rest!
