My year in the Baltic

Between September 2019 and August 2020, I went to Tartu, Estonia, to volunteer for a year with the European Solidarity Corps in Tartu, Estonia. The organizer of the project was the organization Tartu Noorsootö Keskus, which had three youth centres within the city of Tartu under its umbrella.

I dreamed about ESC volunteering already in high school, and I accepted the project spontaneously, because I was just finishing my graduation, but I was not yet ready to start my master's studies. I applied for the project on the initiative of two Slovenians I met on an exchange in Turkey in the summer of 2019. Due to the late application, I was already in Tartu a week after applying. I chose the city of Tartu because I had been in the city before for a short project and I loved it, the theme was close to my heart, working with young people and the afternoon working hours suited me due to my many years of experience with scouting.

I also wanted to experience the year-round weather cycle in northern Europe once in my life. I was given the role of activity organiser at the youth center in the center of Tartu. Every Tuesday I organised a mini cooking class for young people, and every Thursday I led activities for a healthy lifestyle. I was also given roughly 100 euros per month to organise activities outside the youth center. With this money, I organized various trips, visits to museums and escape rooms, horseback riding, swimming, adrenaline park, cinema and so on.

What I remember most about living in Estonia is the incredible connection with the other volunteers throughout the country, which you don't experience on a regular Erasmus study exchange. The connection remained even through the first months of the lockdown due to Covid-19 and I am still in touch today with a few people who were volunteers in Estonia at that time. After finishing my volunteering, I continued my master's studies.

I am currently on the Ceepus program in Pardubice, Czech Republic, as a second-year master's student. I look back at volunteering as probably the best year of my life, also because there I met my current girlfriend from Armenia, with whom I worked together in the organization and now we are planning our future life together. Finally, I can only thank the European Union for this incredible opportunity, and I urge young people to grab this opportunity with both hands.

 

Updated on Martedì, 17/02/2026