Gonçalo’s Final Evaluation


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Hello my name is Goncalo, I’m 22 years old and I’m from Portugal. I study engineering back in Portugal, and I’m also a bit of a nerd, and love reading books, watching films, playing board games and listening to music. I also enjoy going out with friends for a beer and watching some football!



I was always a bit shy and always playing it safe, and the mundane life of studying and working was burning me out, and that’s when I found ESC. It sounded like the perfect opportunity to change my environment, work in a field I have very little knowledge of and most importantly a chance to develop myself. I was contacted by Smokinya Foundation with this offer to spend one year abroad in Bulgaria, helping them with their office work as well as their youth and local work. I had an idea of what volunteering was before discovering ESC. It was about people coming together to help a cause, usually at local level, and without any monetary benefit. This idea changed as I discovered ESC and I understood the opportunities I had as a young person in the EU, to discover a new country and culture while still improving the world in a small way.



I expected to just help a bit in local events, but soon realized that it was much more than that. For starters, as a volunteer I had to organize and prepare a lot for the events, sometimes being in charge, which proved complicated at first, but soon I began to adapt and my sense of leadership and my organizational skills improved quite a lot since January, being able to put the idea from my head into paper and then make it happen. Something that also was unexpected was the opportunity to participate in all sorts of projects, ranging from Youth Exchanges and Training Courses to short term volunteering projects, giving me the chance to meet so many different people from so many different countries.



It was a hard journey, and it was filled with challenges all year round. Although we had lots of freedom to create and experiment our own ideas, we also had a lot of responsibilities, as we are in charge of many workshops, events and small tasks that can influence other people’s work. During our work on the BRIGHT Future project, we were also in charge of small teams of people, and although it was very hard to guide and help so many people, it was also an amazing learning experience and after two camps, I could see the difference in my approach and me growing into the type of leader I admire.



The Bright Future camp was the most memorable experience during my time here, these 6 weeks spent in the small town in Mrachenik was live changing, being able to develop lots of skills, from handiwork to soft skills like leadership, teamwork and communication. Being away from the city was also refreshing, being able to absorb all the nature and the lack of distractions helped connect better with all the people that came to join us from all over the world.



I would definitely recommend ESC to people, as this is the perfect opportunity for any young people to both grown and develop themselves as well as explore places outside your daily life. This project has shown me that there is a lot more than what we are expected to do in life, from school to work, life is not infinite and these experiences help you appreciate every second of it. As my project finishes, I go back home with a newfound motivation and attitude to work on myself, always keep learning and working on improving myself and my life. I also bring back so many memories and friends which I will always treasure within me.



This program is co-funded by the European Solidarity Corps program of the European Union.

The European Commission’s support for the production of this publication does not constitute an
endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be
held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. //
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Gonçalo’s Final Evaluation