Once Erasmus+, forever Erasmus+

Hello! My name is Alica and I am a 16-year-old student from Slovakia. Since I was a little kid I have loved socialising, meeting new people and experiencing challenging adventures. Thanks to this particular Erasmus+ youth exchange, I had an opportunity to experience two amazing weeks, where I met a lot of great friends and gained, not only theoretical but also practical knowledge. The memories I made will stay forever with me. 

But I will start from the beginning…. It was an ordinary day for me when my mom sent me an offer for an Erasmus+ project that should take part in Slovenia. It seemed quite nice, so I said to myself, “Why not? The least I can do is write an application and see what it is about”. So that was exactly what I did. The very next day, on Thursday, I got an email saying I was accepted for a project that was starting in 4 days. I was so excited and shocked, but my stress level was rising every hour. Immediately after I came home, I started packing and making a list of things I needed for this youth exchange. 

However, after a few busy days, I finally had everything I needed, but mostly I had many expectations and fears I would have to face. On Sunday morning, I was in Bratislava standing in front of a bus that would in 7 hours arrive in Ljubljana. 

After many hours spent travelling, we finally reached our eco-farm, in the middle of nowhere, where we were staying. Then, I saw a completely new place with many question marks around it. But now, when I look back, I see the most wonderful two weeks I experienced there. Even when we were 10 for one shower, or I was stressed about my English level or my social skills... but gladly, I can say nothing of that did matter. 

We spent our time gaining knowledge about the media in the best ways possible - I wasn’t bored once. We were creative and constantly bringing new awesome ideas to life. We had interesting workshops and great discussions. But we not only “learned” but also had free days - one I spent discovering Ljubljana and the other cleaning and playing sports. 

I met a lot of amazing people that I will never forget. I learned about new cultures and, thanks to the “cultural evening”, I experienced a bit of them. I made friends all across Europe who told me they would always have a couch for me if I ever needed one. On the last day, when we were saying goodbye, I cried so hard because I thought I would never see them again and I would miss them very much - but funny story, with many of them I am still in touch and Slovenians came to Slovakia for another Erasmus+ project after a month, so we went to see them again and it was absolutely wonderful.

I will be forever grateful for all the experiences, memories and friendships I made in Slovenia. I am so thankful and happy that I clicked on that Facebook link my mom sent me.

Updated on terça-feira, 11/07/2023