Have you ever considered what does “volunteering” mean? Before my ESC experience that led me to live in the beautiful Budapest for almost a year, I almost never contemplated what it meant to me. And now, I am eager to do more, add more value to my community and beyond. That is all thanks to my volunteering experience with Egyesek and my position as a communication volunteer here, and I am incredibly grateful for all that happened to me.
I am Zeynep, born and raised in Istanbul, an equally beautiful city as is Budapest. I have always been a kid that likes to know about new cultures, ways of living, and saying new words in different languages, so when it came to pick my major at university, I picked International Relations and all my aim during my major has been to compliment my major with a great international exposure and relevant practical experience. Upon my graduation, I have been reminded of “European Solidarity Corps”, which is an incredible EU program for someone like me, and started searching for opportunities, and that is how I landed in a volunteering opportunity that satisfied me to the fullest, grew me both as a person and a professional to the maximum, and finally gave me a profound experience that I will forever carry within myself.
My volunteering in Egyesek included tasks for disseminating opportunities for the youth in Hungary, managing social media accounts and platforms for the NGO, and connecting them in events like university seminars or intercultural events. While all these tasks were teaching me new things everyday as I collaborated with my team in Budapest, I have also been given the opportunity to initiate my personal mini project. I have designed, executed and even successfully presented in Tallinn, Estonia my mini project “I am learning my rights!”, which especially helped me for my further academic life, and gave me an incredible opportunity to explore youth work in a small city in Nógrád, Hungary.
With everything that I have learned, experienced, and everyone I met, I am so happy to have been a part of this program, team, and be able to call myself a former “ESC volunteer”. If I could turn back in time and say something to Zeynep that is yet to arrive in her volunteering, I could only say “Get yourself prepared for one of the best times of your life so-far, and enjoy it to the fullest!”, and I think I did enjoy it to the fullest.
Special thanks to the team in Budapest, my mentor(s), fellow volunteers, and everyone I met who taught me at least something. I will forever carry our memories in my heart.
