September 2018 -A new volunteer

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Hola!

I am Sabela, the new EVS volunteer at the library of Pomiechówek!

I come from A Coruña, a town in the northwestern corner of Spain, and I am 22 years old. I arrived to Poland at the beginning of September and I will stick around until the end of July 2019. That’s plenty of time to get to know this amazing country and its culture -and I will try with the language as well!

But first… how did this adventure start for me?

After four years of university, I finally graduated at English Language and Literature this past June. So the question was what to do next. I had spent all those years avoiding to think about the future, I was just not prepared to start a professional life and there was not any master that called my attention. I needed something different and, for sure, I needed to keep improving my English!

I had spent my third year of University as an Erasmus student in Ireland, so I guess that this awesome experience encouraged my hunger for discovering new places, cultures and people and also my passion for traveling. This is why when I learnt about the existence of the EVS (European Voluntary Service) I thought that it was perfect for me, for it gave me the possibility of doing all of those things while also working in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere with a place for creativity and new things. I just could not miss this opportunity and I decided to take a gap year afterwards.

Once I concluded my final project and had again free time I started to search for options and to plan my new life. However, I was much more complicated than what I thought! It is true that there are hundreds of different projects you can choose, but on the other hand, there are only a few available positions within each one for people all around Europe. Therefore, it’s pretty hard that the project you like also wants you.

Actually, it is quite a frustrating process. In my case, I applied for twenty projects, most of them linked to cultural activities, but only three contacted back. So it was a long wait during this Summer, I even started to think that it would be impossible for me to go abroad.
Finally, I got the confirmation that I had been accepted at the library! I have already spent a month here and things could not be better, so I can say that, although I got here almost by chance, it is so far the best chance of my life!

So, when people ask me ‘why Poland?’ I have to admit that it’s not like I chose Poland, it was more of a match!

I will be posting on the library blog about the activities and events we organize and about my new adventures in Poland, so I hope you come back soon!

Sabela


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