Ella, is currently on a gap year, after finishing high school and before studying politics in Amsterdam. Ella participated in the Gender In/Equality in Media and Journalism interactive online course provided by the Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange project.
“Since I want to become a journalist and I am very passionate about the topic of gender equality, I felt very interested in taking part in the exchange. I found it searching for new ways to grow as a person. I hoped to learn more about gender inequality in media and journalism and what I can do about it. I also wanted to meet people with other perspectives and discuss, argue, disagree or agree…”
For Ella the best part of the course was talking to people who “disagreed” with her: “Indeed I began questioning my beliefs and now I am even more convinced about what I think about the topic of Gender Equality. It was also very interesting to be open to other perspectives”.
Her favourite memory from the online session was preparing her final assignment: “I realised how drastically different views people have and how understanding that it is important to live together as a society, to be more open-minded and reduce discriminations.”
Ella emphasised that her participation in the course impacted her because she learned a lot about gender equality in other communities:“This made me realise that inequality is definitely a wide world challenge. I also learned to listen more”.
Ella concludes by saying that she would recommend Virtual Exchange for everyone: “It is a fun, drastically different and eye opening experience that I think everyone should take part in. Thank you for making these exchanges possible.”
