Bok svima 🙂 Ja se zovem Giovanna La Gala, imam 25 godina i nedavno sam počela volontirati u Udruzi mladih “Mladi u Europskoj Uniji“ u Šibeniku u sklopu nove EU inicijative za mlade – Europskim snagama solidarnosti i to u okviru Erasmus+ projekta. Jako sam oduševljena i uzbuđena zbog ovog iskustva koje će trajati godinu dana!
Kad biste se pitali zašto sam se odlučila uključiti u takav projekt, mogu vam na to pitanje dati više odgovora. Prošle sam godine, u rujnu 2021., slučajno naišla na poziv za trening o mogućnostima volontiranja u Europi koji je organizirala upravo Udruga mladih “Mladi u EU” pa sam se prijavila i otišla na tjedan dana. Upoznala sam se s odličnom ekipom koja mi je objasnila sve mogućnosti koje EU pruža mladima u svim različitim područjima i to mi je otvorilo oči. Ja sam tada bila pri kraju sveučilišnih studija i kao mnogo studenata moje dobi nisam znala što ću raditi poslije ili općenito u životu. Malo sam se čak i bojala jer nisam znala koji je pravi put za mene i ima li ga uopće. Zahvaljujući Udruzi, shvatila sam da imam gomilu mogućnosti i odjednom mi je strah jednostavno nestao. Postalo mi je tada jasno koliko moćan može biti utjecaj takve Udruge na mlade osobe te sam osjetila potrebu da i ja sama tako nešto raditi, tj. pomognem mladima jednako kao što je meni Udruga pomogla. Nije bilo bolje mjesto od ovoga da se priključim Europskim Snagama Solidarnosti. Uz to ide činjenica da sam diplomirala Kroatistiku te su mi ova država i njena kultura izuzetno drage.
Još nisam našla pravi put za mene, no sad to smatram jačom stranom a ne slabošću. Ovo će mi volontiranje dati priliku sebe bolje upoznati, a istovremeno vratiti mladima tu istu podršku koja je meni Udruga dala.
Hi everyone 🙂 My name is Giovanna La Gala, I’m 25 years old and I recently started volunteering with European Solidarity Corps in the Šibenik “Association for Youth in the EU” within the range of Erasmus + projects. I am enthusiastic and excited about this experience that is going to last one year!
If you are wondering why I decided to take part in such a project, I would give you more than one answer. Last year, more precisely in September 2021, by chance I found a call for a training course about volunteering opportunities in Europe held by the Association for youth in the EU, so I reached out and went for one week. I met with the wonderful team that gave us an insight into all the possibilities that our Union offers to younger generations in a wide range of areas and this opened my eyes. At that time, I was at the end of my career as a University student, and as well as many other people my age I didn’t really know what was the right path for me and does it even exist? Thanks to the Association, I realized that I have tons of opportunities and suddenly I just wasn’t scared anymore. It became clear to me then how powerful of an impact this type of Association can have on youngers and I felt the need to do something similar myself, that is help youngers in the same way the Association helped me. There wasn’t a better place for me than this one to join the ESC program. Besides this, I got a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Croatian studies, thus I am fond of this country and its culture.
I am yet to find the right path for me, however now I think this is my strength and not a weakness. This volunteering experience will give me the chance of getting to know myself better, and at the same time give back to younger people that same support the Association gave me.
