Erasmus+ is a great programme, which allows young people from all around Europe to travel, create multicultural friendships, learn new skills and even get to know themselves a little better. Personally, I have participated in three really unique projects. Each one has taught me different skills and shown me something new about Europe and all the different cultures, which make up the old continent.
I went on my first project when I was 18 years old. It took place in Turkey’s fifth largest city- Adana. The topic was popularizing something that is unique for your country and educating the other participants about the significance of that thing for the people of your country. The Bulgarian team chose the Belogradchik rocks as the centerpiece of our presentation, because of its uniqueness and historical value. This project provided me with my first contacts with people from different nations and taught me that even though we may look and sound different, we are more similar than I previously taught. Every country had its own special traditions and monuments, but the proudness and admiration with which we all spoke was the same.
The second project, that I went to, was my first as a group leader. It was right before and during the day of Europe and therefore we honored the celebration with singing the European anthem in four different languages along with a chorus of singers in front of a live crowd in a concert hall. The project was in Slovenia, a country I knew close to nothing about before going there, but quickly grew to like and develop and interest in. Being a leader of the Bulgarian group, I learned to be reliable, patient, but also strict sometimes. Singing was never my best quality, but that was beside the point. Singing in a different language along with hundred other people was really eye opening and removing all the boundaries, that our geographical and historical differences might have set.
My last project, at least for now, took place in a small town called Bardejov in Slovakia. Its theme was “Spread the word”. The participants were divided into multicultural groups and given the task to come up and create something like a marketing strategy for other Erasmus+ projects. The process of working with people from all around Europe was an amazing experience. Our task involved a lot of creativity and my team took it as a challenge to both develop skills as a marketing expert and also get to know the way in which people from other countries think. The contributions and ideas of every member of the team were appreciated and the final product came out great. The skills, which I acquired at this project have helped me with thinking outside of the box. Some marketing concepts, which I knew from university, were developed into a real strategy and I saw them come to life. This made the Project in Slovakia a precious one for me.
Each project has taught me different skills and provided unique experiences, but all of them were absolutely worth it and thanks to the Erasmus+ programme I had the opportunity to travel and participate in all of them.
by Ventseslav Todorov
Participant in
YE “Design your future” in Galapagar, Spain