Three months ago, I had a chance to participate in the Erasmus+ project taking place in Osijek. This was a new concept of Erasmus+ for me since I didn’t have to sit at the airport for seven hours and could easily come to the project by bike. How cool is that?
For the majority, Erasmus+ is about traveling what I absolutely can’t deny. Therefore, I was curious about how my overall experience would be. Little did I know… one of the most memorable Erasmus+ so far, and I have been to many. The group dynamic was just perfect - we bonded within seconds. I felt like part of the group as we quickly made deep connections. It was a pleasure to work and spend my free time with like-minded young people. And this wouldn’t have been possible without our amazing facilitators Romana and Matej who also created amazing workshops. Some Erasmus+ focus more on team building and meeting cultures. On the contrary, others merely focus on workshops and transmitting knowledge. I never thought both aspects could have been achieved, and our facilitators made it happen. They listened to our needs and wishes when creating our daily schedule. And that didn’t influence the quality of the workshops. Workshops were so educative, and you could see that we all enjoyed it since everyone was actively engaged. Some discussions were even prolonged during the coffee break while some played chess (that would be me).
Besides honing my chess thinking, I can’t believe how much I learned from facilitators and participants themselves who gladly shared their experiences. As a person who doesn’t have much job-related experience, I learned a lot from first-hand experience. The workshops covered all important topics such as writing a motivational letter and CV, interview preparation and selection process, public speaking and non-verbal communication, etc… Not only did I learn to write a CV and prepare for the interview, but I feel confident and less anxious to go through the procedure. Now, I feel competent to apply for any job. This is a sign that knowledge was well transmitted. I believe all participants would agree with me. So, congrats Romana and Matej!
Overall, “Business as EUsual” gave me so much. Listening and sharing ideas with an extremely talented group inspired me to work on me even more – professionally and personally. Thank you ALL.
*Youth Exchange "Business as EUsual" was funded under the Erasmus+ Programme of European Union, and it is approved by Croatian Agency for mobility and EU Programmes*
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