VIE+W | Find your passion and you will get anywhere

Hi! My name is Marina and I am from Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. Last year I finished my English Studies degree at the University of Lleida, and next year I will be studying the master’s degree to become a teacher. When I was 8 years old, I started to study music in my city’s conservatory and I chose the oboe as my main instrument and piano as the second one.

I continued my high school studies combining them with the musical ones, and I graduated from both in 2016. The fact of studying two different fields at a time helped me to be more organized and focused, but it also showed me how everything is connected, from music to literature or mathematics, an aspect which I always try to keep in mind. Since I did not want to stop with my musical formation, I engaged in several orchestras, in which I continue nowadays. However, as much as I loved music, there was something else I also adored: languages. This is why I chose to study English Studies in the university, at the same time as I started learning German and French.

My four years in university have been one of the most enriching experiences both on a personal and an academic level. I was very passionate about the subjects I took, but especially the ones about literature and culture. That is why for my final degree thesis I focused on how feminism and popular culture are interrelated, how women are portrayed through films and series. Fortunately, this project enabled me to give some talks in my town, thus raising awareness on the importance of media.

But sadly everything good comes to an end. After graduating and going through the typical what-do-I-do-now existential crisis, I decided I wanted to take a gap year between university and further studies to work and travel, so the Erasmus+ experience was the best way to combine both things. I first heard about this program when I entered university, but it was not until my last year when I seriously thought about it. After I received an email explaining what is the EU4EU program, I knew I could not miss this opportunity. And this is how my journey with the Erasmus+ program started.

All my experiences abroad have somehow shaped the person I am today, but there is one in particular which made me realize what it is to be independent, self-worthy and flexible: an Interrail trip with my best friend. After that adventure back in 2016, I could not stop thinking about exploring new cultures, new languages, and new countries, which is one of the reasons why I am here in Bulgaria.

I hope this stay at ICDET helps me to improve my personal, interpersonal and professional skills while enjoying it as much as I can.

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Marina Palau, intern@ICDET

PEOPLE+ | Welcome on VOLUNTEERING@ICDET, Munup!

Hi, My name is Münüp Duygulu. I'm 22 years old. I am from Turkey, Kayseri and i`m in Sofia, Bulgaria for my first international expirience as ESC Volunteer in ICDET Bulgaria. I graduated from Erciyes College in 2017. I was not very successful in high school. Frankly, I was a mischievous student. After preparing for the university exam for 1 year, I got into Ufuk University, Faculty of Law in 2018. I moved to Ankara when the university started. Ankara is the capital city of Turkey.

I was in English preparatory class in the first year of university. I am now a third year law student. I am working to improve myself all the time - I have been doing research to take part in a volunteering project since my childhood. After starting university, I planned to reactivate my research, but I could not go anywhere, because we were in the coronavirus pandemic.

By the way, I also like travelling very much. Whenever I have free time, I travel through cities of Turkey but this has been my first time abroad. I discovered ICDET and learned that I could participate in such a project during the coronavirus. I applied with great enthusiasm. ICDET is my first volunteer project host. I have been in Sofia for about 2 weeks. Sofia is a city with history. I visited historical places in Sofia and will continue to do so.

ICDET offers us the opportunity to travel while doing a volunteering project too. I learned to ski in Erciyes Mountain in Kayseri when I was a little kid. I am a professional level skier now. Bulgaria is famous for its ski resorts, so I will go skiing to Bansko and Vitosha mountain in Sofia. Everyone at ICDET takes good care of us. They give us the opportunity to improve ourselves. We develop projects to improve ourselves, the ICDET and the European Union. I hope in the future I can still continue to improve myself in the best positive way!

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Münüp Duygulu, volunteer@ICDET

LIFE+ | My motto is experience

Heyoo ! I’m Melis. I come from Bursa, Turkey. I’m 23 years old. I am fond of spinning and DIY (Do It Yourself) also I have a blog which I am writing every kind of experiment and impressions from the places I have seen and their cultures and cuisines.

I graduated from Uludag University majoring in mechanical engineering. I also have a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations. I participated in many big projects at university as an instructor and volunteer. I did my capstone project in Groupe Renault and successfully completed it. I attended many professional training and conferences about this job line. When I was studying at the same time I did lots of engineering internships and I worked as a purchasing assistant in a German production company.

I want to improve my soft skills and broaden my horizons . Because soft skills are something you have to improve lifelong. And after finishing university, Erasmus + European Solidarity Corps is a good way to achieve this goal and take a break before getting a start in work life. There are lots of pros to doing ESC. You can discover a new culture while working, people who live in the city you are doing ESC , people you meet while traveling , or people you met during your ESC training, they are all people who are part of the ESC experience. You can gain some features that many recruiters are looking for in job candidates such as flexibly, adaptation, self management and project management.

I want to improve my soft skills and broaden my horizons . Because soft skills are something you have to improve lifelong. And after finishing university, Erasmus + European Solidarity Corps is a good way to achieve this goal and take a break before getting a start in work life. There are lots of pros to doing ESC. You can discover a new culture while working, people who live in the city you are doing ESC , people you meet while traveling , or people you met during your ESC training, they are all people who are part of the ESC experience. You can gain some features that many recruiters are looking for in job candidates such as flexibly, adaptation, self management and project management.

I found an ESC in ICDET although Bulgaria and Turkey have border countries but I do not know anything about Bulgarian people and their culture. In the next two months I am planning to have so many Bulgarian friends and want to know more about them. Probably when I go back home I will experience Culture Shock because I already liked Bulgaria which now has an extraordinary situation in the world called pandemia. Because of pandemia there are lots of restrictions and caution.

I hope that before my ESC end we will get through this pandemic situation.

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Melis Gülmez, volunteer@ICDET