Hello everyone! My name is Alena, I’m 23 years old, and today is my last day of volunteering at Smokinya.
It’s been a year since I came to Bulgaria for the first time. Weird to say, but it feels like I arrived here only a couple of weeks ago, even though it definitely was a life-changing experience for me. I was a different person back then, and I dare to say that now I’m much more mature and confident than I was in July 2024.
It’s hard to recall all the meaningful moments of my stay in Bulgaria, but I’ll try to describe the most important ones to you.
First of all, it’s valid to mention that after living in Russia for 22 years, I left my home country for the first time to come to Plovdiv. Bulgaria was the right choice for me—a Slavic country with a language close to my native one, still different living conditions, and very unique traditions. I had to get used to Bulgarian cuisine and weather, and at the same time I felt that I understood people here very well, even without speaking the same language or sharing the same history. Locals welcomed me incredibly warmly, and that’s what I will never forget—people willing to help a random foreign girl who got confused and lost dealing with the first weeks’ problems of every relocating person.
I came here with a clear goal of finding the best path for my future and deciding what I want to do next. I knew already that I planned to continue my studies and obtain a master’s degree, but I still didn’t know where exactly I wanted to pursue my career. Thus, I took my time as an ESC volunteer to reflect on this, and I achieved what I wanted—very soon I’m going to move to Italy and continue my academic path in international studies.
At this point, doing an ESC project helped me to learn how the international community works. I surely may say that meeting people from different countries with different perspectives and backgrounds strengthens both the team and every member involved individually. And it is a huge difference between just hanging out with internationals and really working in a diverse team. With this said, I have to tell you one more time—I value my personal experience of taking part in the Bright Future project a lot and wish everyone who reads it to try it out. There is no better way to understand who you are and who the people around you are than living in a small village in tents and doing physical work every day.
One of the changes that I went through during my volunteering is a perspective shift. Living life as a volunteer is not a luxury—you learn how to be financially smart and do not buy what is unnecessary. And even if at the beginning it seems to be complicated, in reality it helped me to reevaluate my whole vision. I learned how to appreciate people as they are, not looking at their clothes or gadgets but at their beliefs and actions. And the same applies to myself. I stopped being worried about outer beauty and put more effort into my personal development. That’s what I’m grateful for the most.
I was really happy spending this time with Smokinya. Big thanks for being with me to Tisho, Meri, Goncalo, Franka, Cansu, Fedor, Dimi, Apo, Hendrik and Mirthe, and good luck with the rest of the project to Leo and Carlos. I hope I’ll see you again!
Want to learn about the benefits of our courses? Click here: https://smokinya.com/testimonials/
This program is co-funded by the European Solidarity Corps program of the European Union.
Финансирано от Европейския съюз. Изразените възгледи и мнения обаче принадлежат изцяло на техния(ите) автор(и) и не отразяват непременно възгледите и мненията на Европейския съюз или на Европейската изпълнителна агенция за образование и култура (EACEA). За тях не носи отговорност нито Европейският съюз, нито EACEA.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
