How the European Programmes changed my Life
Being currently in Croatia as part of an Erasmus + programme of my organisation and being one of the first members of the European Solidarity Corps made me reflect gave me inspiration to write about how the European Programmes really changed my life. It is a fact that many people say that Erasmus + changed completely their lifestyle and their view of life. However, my experience with European Programmes goes back much earlier than my university time.
(Fig. 1 - Erasmus+ Volcar Project in Croatia as ESC member from CEV)
I was 17 when I first participated in an European Programme. I knew nothing about Europe, not even mentioning about the world... I was living in this small town Braga in Portugal, which was very homogenous in terms of culture and had barely any foreigners. This was a 2-year project, called Comenius project, and included partners from Romania, Italy, France and Lithuania. Since our class was rather small (7 people) I had the opportunity of visiting Romania, France and Lithuania.
(Fig. 2 - In the airport on my way to France in 2010 for the Comenius Project)
The first visit to Romania was in Winter and it was cold and snowing. That was the first time I saw such a big amount of snow, since as you can imagine, in Portugal it is not really a characteristic of the country. We stayed in host families and I remember to suffer a big 'cultural shock'. The food was very strange, the people, the weather... At that point I remember thinking that I could not understand why people were the way they were and why did they acted the way they acted. The visit to France was not as shocking, since there were some similarities between the two countries. Lithuania once again was much more contrasting and I remember thinking that people there did not live in such good conditions as I did in Portugal. Sometimes when I traveled it made it hard for me to imagine myself living somewhere else other than Portugal and other times I thought that there was no 'better' country than mine. Did these differences make me want to stop travelling and stay in my country? No, absolutely not! Quite the opposite... eventhough I realized that lifestyles in different European countries were so challenging and diverse, it opened my eyes towards other lifestyles and cultural perspectives. So, when I finished high school I decided to move and study my Bachelor degree in Music in London, in the UK.
(Fig. 3 When I moved to London in 2011 in front of the Portuguese Embassy)
Of course, at the beginning once again, cultural differences were obvious and I had to adapt my behavior and thinking to the country that I decided to live in. The fact that I was now speaking a foreign language 24/7 and barely speaking my own language was also a big adversity at first, however now I can assure you, that I am so used to it, that I guess sometimes it is more challenging to speak in my mother-tongue Portuguese rather than English.
After finishing my BA, I heard about this Comenius Assistantship that permitted people to learn a new language and learn more about the educational system of other countries by doing a traineeship at a school. In my case I chose Germany and I ended up in a Grundschule (Primary school). This experience was fantastic! In one year I learned German from the scratch, learned about the German educational system and its differences with the Portuguese one and met people from all over Germany. I must say that after living in the UK, moving to Germany was another cultural shock, but I have learned to love the German society and their consciousness towards environment, society and politics.
(Fig. 3 During my Comenius Assistantship in Germany in 2014)
After that year, I decided to start studying a Masters in European Studies in the Europa-Universitat Flensburg since my travelling had affected immensily my curiosity of formal learning in terms of how the European countries and their unity was constructed. I had to learn everything about Politics, Diplomacy, Law and Economics of the EU from the scratch since my previous studies were mostly non-related. If I think about it now, I came to the conclusion that actually my BA and MA do complement each other, since first I focused on the cultural and societal perspectives of Europe and after more in the economic and political side. I do not think that I would have the same picture of Europe if I did not have had the two angles.
(Fig. 4 At the Europa-Universitat Flensburg with my classmates in 2015)
On the second year of my MA there was a possibility to do an Erasmus+ university exchange at the University of Wroclaw in Poland. I had never lived until then in an 'Eastern' country and the thought of it was again a mixture of excitement but also a slight fear. Since I have learned from my previous experiences that getting out of your comfort zone is a positive thing, even though it probably means more short-term difficulties and lack of stability, I decided to go. As expected, moving from Germany to Poland was, once again, a big 'cultural shock', to which I recovered pretty quickly. I loved the university and the interesting subjects they offered. I had met already polish people previously, and living in Poland made me understand things about them that I never did before.
(Fig. 5 Me and my polish football team from Credit Suisse in Wroclaw in 2016)
After finishing the Erasmus+ at the university I thought about going back to Germany, but in the meantime I got the opportunity of doing an Erasmus+ traineeship at Credit Suisse in Wroclaw. I loved the experience! I gained so much knowledge in terms of Economy, Finance and Banking, but also, I learned a lot about the working cultures of other countries and even more on how to be adaptable to diverse working environments, characteristics that are highly appreciated by employers. After all of this I moved to Brussels to do a Bluebook traineeship at the European Commission.
(Fig. 6 During my traineeship at the European Commission in 2017)
I must say that the more I move to different countries in Europe, the easier it gets:
1- to understand people from diverse backgrounds and cultures;
2- to feel like I have something in common with them;
3- to share knowledge and discuss both daily life subjects but also life perspectives;
4- to be open-minded towards people that are different than me;
5- to be adaptable to new environments;
6- to feel solidarity towards people that are not as fortunate as me and the wish to help them;
7- to understand that even though there are differences between people there are a lot more similarities that really should unite them;
8- to learn new languages and try to communicate with people even if I do not speak the language;
9- to acquire new working perspectives;
10- to always wish for new challenges and to gain new skills in everything I do!
Currently I am a member of the European Solidarity Corps for CEV, the new programme from the European Commission and I am so grateful for this programme that brings not only the development of skills perspective and new working perspectives but that also develops the moral values of understanding and solidarity towards other cultures and people. This time it is not only about my development but also about helping other people, the people that need the most.
(Fig. 7 Me and Giulia Bordin in Brussels as one of the first member of the European Solidarity Corps in 2017)
While there are always some criticisms towards all the EU programmes, which might be considered of value and as an opportunity for improvement, since there is always room for that in everything in life, the fact is that I am just so grateful that I had the opportunity to live every moment of my life abroad in the past 7 years. I have learned so much and I just hope that other people feel inspired to do the same. And... this is all thanks to the European Union. So, yes, the EU changed my life. I am still Portuguese and there are some aspects of me that will always be Portuguese, I still love the beach, the coffee and the sun, but in my heart I am a true European!
(Fig. 8 Me in Croatia, appreciating this view and feeling blessed that the EU exists in 2017)