Extra, extra, read all about it!
EVS helps you find your place in the European family!
As being one of
those Europeans that fully took advantage of the youth mobility opportunities
across the continent by participating in various seminars, conferences, student
weeks and youth exchanges, the decision to embark in an EVS adventure came
almost naturally.
Before engaging
in my one year long journey to Poland,
I didn’t have much knowledge of the social reality of the country and for most
part, Poland
was just a section of the European map, with a tumultuous history.
When people ask
me how my EVS was, I still find it difficult to describe it in a single
sentence, because looking back at the whole experience, I realize, now more
than ever, that EVS will always be one of those stages in my life that helped
me to truly connect, in an insightful way, to my own cultural identity and on a
more larger extent, to my European one. Even today, I consider that EVS is and
probably always be a big part of my becoming, as a more responsible and engaged
citizen of an international community.
In
Poland
I discovered that even if a society seems to function completely different, you
will still find familiarities within bits and bobs of multiple cultures, that
will give you a total sense of belonging.
I discovered that people from
different places, with different social and cultural backgrounds can be united
under the same roof by curiosity and the desire to share your own customs and
traditions while contemplating the delights of this European mosaic of
cultures. I discovered that no matter how different you may think people are,
we are all connected by the same values, fears and expectations of life.
EVS made me
realize that boundaries are just an administrative aspect and that nowadays
people in Europe are more in touch with one
another then they’ve probably ever been.
The best part of
this experience and the one that I probably cherish the most, among the great
friends I now have all over Europe and the great memories from amazing European
cities that accompany me wherever I go, is this desire to get involved in all
the projects that will give the future generations of European citizens the
same opportunity of becoming curious about Europe, curiosity that would
eventually lead to the developing of a true European identity.