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My EVS adventure in Romania A story of sharing

Hello !

My name is Katia and I come from the sunny region of Toulouse, in the South of France. Before to come in Romania, I studied Psychology for 3 years and I started a Master degree to become a Primary Teacher School. I was preparing the national contest to have my own class the following year.

So, why today am I in Bucharest and not in a school with my pupils in France ? It’s time to share my story !

WHY I CHOSE TO TAKE A GAP YEAR ?

In 2017, when I was studying in La Rochelle for my Master degree, I started to ask a lot of question to myself : “Am I in the good direction ?”, “Am I ready to become a teacher ?”, “Did I do the wrong choice ?” and so far. I didn’t know what to answer. I was totally lost.

On a part, I had really good results and I knew that I had the possibility to succeed the contest but on the other hand I felt that I missed something and I had this strong impression for several years. But impossible to understand what. I started to have a long reflection about what I really wanted in my life. I realized that during all my life I learnt a lot of passionnant things on the benches of school but that I didn’t live a big experiences out of this context. All my life I studied but more because it was “in the order of the things” than because of a personal motivation. Of course I really enjoyed to study Psychology and it is still a subject which I am really interesting in but at the beginning I went to the University because that I “had” to go. I wanted to go abroad since after the obtention of my Baccalaureate but this staid just an idea in my mind. I really wanted but I never did a step forward. But at this moment of my life I couldn’t say “I will see later, maybe”, no. I had to take a decision, it was the crucial time. Or I passed the contest and I started to work or I choose to leave. I opted for the second solution. I didn’t know what I was going to do but I was going to do it. The only things that I knew were that I wanted to live something totally different than that I lived before. Particularly I wanted to have a wider vue on the things, on the others and on the world. But, I also wanted learn about something else : myself.

I didn’t talk about my decision to my friends and my family at the beginning. I was searching how to explain my choice to them, so I reflected more and more in order to find the good way and the good moment. And the moment came. With my friends, no problem. They were just a bit surprised but they were happy for me. With my family it was another story. I saw their eyes full of incomprehension. “But why ? You can have a job with a salary, why do you want to go in another country ? To do what ?”. I tried to explain to them the reasons of my choice but they didn’t understand my point of vue. They we focus on this idea “You can have a job”. How to explain that for me this is it not the most important thing that I want ? How to explain to them that my goal in life is not to have a job but to do something that I like ? That my goal is to discover and learn about the things ? I tried to explain by relating this to my wish to become a teacher. In my perspective, if I want to be a teacher it is to give to the children some knowledge and skills, formals and informal, in order to give them a chance to move forward in their lives. And how can I do this if I don’t do my best to educate myself before ? Because to be educated is not only to know formal knowledge, it is much more.

Despite my explications they tried to dissuade me but whatever, for one time I decided to do want I wanted to do and not what I should do.

WHY I CHOSE AN EUROPEAN VOLUNTEERING SERVICE ?

When I started my researches I found a lot of opportunity to go abroad : Working Holiday Visa, au pair job, International Civic Service, job of teacher assistant, European Volunteering Service and so far. How to chose ? I learnt more about all the different programs and I developed a particular interest for the European Volunteering Service (SVE).

So, what is it ?

It is an experience to volunteer in an association in another country, particularly in Europe, for young European citizen aged between 17 and 30 years old. You can find missions in different fields like culture, education, environment, media, work with disabled people, young people, and so far. You have the possibility to do something useful and to take part to a social experience. It is the opportunity to enter in contact with other cultures et gain new skills and knowledges for a personal and professional development. And what is the best ? It is almost for free because your travel cost is supported and an accommodation and money are provided all along of your project. When I saw that I couldn’t refuse this opportunity because it was for me the occasion to link my values and my expectations for a good world with a real project. After this discovery, I started to look at all the missions that you can find and I applied to the ones who spoke to me the most. It is like this that I found the mission “Building Our Story” proposed by Asociatia Young Initiative in Romania with the aim to empower young people in the society focused on the development of critical thinking, tolerance and socio-civic skills.

After a laborious Skype interview because of my level in English, I learnt that I had been selected for this project, by I don’t know what miracle. Or maybe because of all the emails that I sent to the association…

Whatever, that's how, the 1st of October 2017, I ended up on a plane in direction of Bucharest for 6 months !

I was in the plane and I was thinking to my family, who finally supported me in my project even if they didn’t agree with, to my friends, to all that I let in France and to all that I will discover. I didn’t really know what to expect but I was neither sad or scared. I had a strong and deep feeling of trust, as if it was in the normal course of things, as if I was on the good way.

WHAT DID I DO DURING THIS PROJECT ?

I arrived around 2pm in Otopeni Airport and I have met for the first time the president of the association, some of the romanian volunteers and my german roommate Rebekka. I remember precisely this moment. My English level was so terrible that to answer to the question “How long was your trip ?” I answered “It was the first time”. Totally out of the topic. After this, we took a taxi to go to our future dorm Carpex and we tried to have a discussion with Rebekka, but with the language it was a real mess. But doesn’t matter, at least I tried to say something ! Later, I got to know the other 4 people who were going to share my life : Antonio the italian, Maxi another german girl and Lisa and Loann the two other french people.

The first days were so full of activities. We had a lot of workshops about our project, the political situation in Romain, the situation of young people, interculturality and many other things. I remember how it was difficult to understand and to speak English. The most complicated was to understand Antonio and Maxi because they spoke really well but sometimes really fast and without articulate a lot. I remember nodding and answer by “yes”, “no”, “ahhh” or by a laugh. Hopefully I had my translator on my mobile phone, all the time with me. It was already better a month later. It’s crazy how you can improve !

During the project, I had the opportunity to choose the activities what I wanted to do. It was really nice because we were absolutely free in our choices, except for some of course. For my part, first, I worked every week in a Social Apartment with children from 7 to 10 years old. Second, I was the facilitator with another volunteer of 6 high school students in order to make them created a project. They chose to create a survey to let the chance to the students to express their opinion about next reforms for high school. Third, I had a personal project about Food Waste composed by an interview and a brochure in Romanian. Also, I participated to one time activities : workshops in high schools, events like a Town Hall Meeting about circular economy, creation of a ToolKit, creation of videos about stereotypes, and so far. And obviously, we had 3 hours of Romanian lesson every week.

But an EVS is not just about working. It is mostly about sharing and discovering. I was lucky to find an amazing team. Of course we were different people, with different cultures, habits and personalities but we created very quickly a good team spirit. We shared a lot together, our time, our stories, our cultures, our feelings, we went to travel, to party and we had a lot of laugh.

It was a real community life.

The Carpex Team : Rebekka and Maxi at the back then Katia, Antonio, Loann and Lisa

French lessons...

I also met other volunteers during the One-Arrival and the Mid-Term Trainings, organized by the European Commission, for one week in an hotel with around sixty volunteers coming from all over Europe. It was amazing ! We kept in touch with some volunteers and continued to meet them after all along the project.

Katia, Marco, José Thomas and Lisa

We also had the opportunity to discover new, surprising and beautiful places :

First glass of champagne for Rebekka in the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest
The overview of Brasov
Somewhere in Moldova
Christmas Holidays in Cluj-Napoca
Ski session in Poiana Brasov
The overview from my room during the Mid-Term Training in Predeal
Loann and Lisa playing in the Berca Mud Volcanoes
The parliament seen from the Fisherman's Bastion in Budapest

Now, this is the end of this amazing experience and it’s time to draw conclusions. It was really rewarding !

Concerning the professional plan, I improved my level on English language and I learnt some methods, some way of communicate that will be useful for my project to become a teacher. Also, I am more sure about my professional direction.

But it's mostly on a personal level that I learnt a lot. I learnt about new cultures, by the country where I lived, the countries where I traveled and by the people that I met. To talk more about these last ones, all of my roommates and some others volunteers were an important part of why I enjoyed my EVS that much. It would have been totally different without them and I am so thankful to have had the chance to meet. Obviously, sometimes, I had some moments of sadness but because they were here it was just a few hours pass. I will never forget how much I laughed with or because of them. So, today, I can say that I met people who became my friends and that I will never forget. Also, this experience permitted me to know more about myself. I am more conscious of who I am, of my behaviors and my way to react. I know more what are my interests and I discovered new ones. I have new objectives and new aspirations of life. Today, I am more sure of the way I want to go. This experience opened my mind and made me more self-confident, emphatic, comprehensive and aware about the world and the people. I am feeling different than who I was when I arrived in Bucharest.

During these 6 months I didn’t have lessons of mathematics, french or geography but I received a lesson on the human plan.

I will be the time to leave Bucharest in few days now, before to start a little road trip with Lisa and Maxi, and to come back in France. It has passed so fast but I know that I will leave with my head full of laughs and incredible memories. I couldn’t have dreamed better. And if I have to resume my EVS in one word it would be happiness.

If I have an advice to give to you, don’t let someone else decide for yourself and take all the opportunities that you have !

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