Volunteering was always an inevitable part of my everyday life. Ever since I was in the 8th grade I got involved in a local Interact club and in the 5 years of my participation I climbed the hierarchy of the club up to be a President and found immense happiness in helping and giving what I have to others. The club’s aim was mainly about organizing local initiatives – charity and sports events, concerts, giveaways and sales, information campaigns, etc. The target group of the club was the youngsters of the city. The good thing about it was that even though we were volunteers and we never got paid a single penny for our work, our ideas were funded by the Rotary club which is the mother organization. Therefore, we had the chance to put our ideas into action because the bigger the event you’re planning is, the bigger amount of money you need for it to happen.
One of the most successful initiatives I’ve taken part in and I’m extremely proud of was called ‘Stay and Fight’. It was a networking event and its main objective was to connect youngsters with local businesses in which they could take part in as interns or regular employees. Since it’s super popular for us to hear that the problem with youth unemployment is huge in Bulgaria, we wanted to show that even though it might be true, there is also lack of information about the youth possibilities. We wanted to show youngsters that you don’t need much experience or a diploma to start earning some money while you’re still in high school. What is more, we wanted them to meet with and talk to successful young entrepreneurs from Bulgaria. The main idea behind this was to somehow try to influence the brain drain on a local level and try to stop the vicious cycle of young talented people leaving Bulgaria and never coming back because ‘there is no future here’.
After finishing High school, I had a bit of a break, started exploring my opportunities with Erasmus+ and setting up my own NGO and I’m currently volunteering in a pet shelter in Sofia, taking care of the animals from time to time.