Unica Radio Raccontiamo la città che cambia
In this episode of the LIVE project podcast, we are joined by Stella Tzertzeveli, who currently lives in Thessaloniki, Greece. During our talk, Stella shares their experience as a European Solidarity Corps volunteer in Zagreb, Croatia. We also discuss the importance of Erasmus+ projects and how they have impacted Stella’s everyday life and perspective.
Stella is someone who really goes with the flow in their life. After graduating high school, they chose to step away from the “regular” path of a young person’s journey. Instead of attending university straight away, Stella went to Zagreb to volunteer abroad. As it sometimes tends to happen in life, soon they realized that the specific place and experience was not the right one. So, Stella chose to finish the volunteering experience early. However, they do not in any way regret going and trying it out. Even though it was the right choice to return home, Stella still enjoyed the time spent in Croatia and would also recommend others to apply. After all, if you never try, you never know.
Thanks to their ESC experience, Stella was also first introduced to the world of Erasmus+ projects. Since then, they have gone on to participate in many youth exchanges and training courses. A project in Berlin (it ended up being hosted online, to be fair) was actually the first time we met! Stella really values the opportunity to take part in these projects. It is a great chance to meet people from different cultures and backgrounds, and gives youngsters an opportunity to broaden their outlook on life.
About moving abroad
Although Stella’s volunteering experience ended early, they still value it because it was a huge step out of their comfort zone. As a young person, it is extremely important to challenge yourself in different ways in order to grow. To people who are afraid to move abroad for a project, but would like to, Stella says – sometimes you just have to do it afraid. After all, you never know how many great things could come out of it.
If you want to hear other volunteering stories, listen to our previous episodes and stay tuned for many more!
