EVS Stories – Not Only About the Others, But Also About Ourselves (Juliette Nicolas)

When I chose the project ReAnimate in Baia Mare, Romania, it was quite hazardous … I didn’t have a job and neither specific plans for my life. I was really feeling the necessity to go and quit my everyday life, my comfort zone. This project was exactly corresponding to dates I wanted and I have heard good things about Romania, so I said let’s go.

I was pretty confident about this experience, but when I arrived, everything was so different from what I was expecting. It was little bit difficult for me to accept that things can be different from what I was thinking but still be good. And for this, at beginning I had really strange feelings, not bad, but not good. I had to deal with it, so, I changed a lot, in a good way. I met a lot of people, apparently so far away from me and my way of life, but little by little I learnt to know them. I understood that we finally had lot of things in common, especially this need to discover what happen around the world and to know new people.

Moreover, I learnt how many interesting things we can find when we cross our own borders. EVS experience is not only about the others, but also about ourselves. When my project ended, after 3 months, I didn’t want to leave, but now I realized that it was just opening one door to many possibilities I have and gave me lots of motivation to continue in this way, having fun and emotions helping people!

Juliette Nicolas (France) has been hosted by Team for Youth Association in Baia Mare, in the “ReAnimate” project, a European Voluntary Service, financed by the European Commission, through the Erasmus Plus Programme.