When You Are Lost, Dive Into Unknown Waters
Maria-Magdalena Kotsevska
(Bulgarian Youth Forum)
It happens to each of us to feel lost and to wonder what is wrong with them in the present, to lose their sense of orientation, not to know where they are and where they want to go, in general. The truth is that everything is fine with us. At such moments we forget that we live on a huge planet, and even being this big, it is small compared to open space. It is normal to get lost, the important thing is not to stop looking for our true self because this feeling will appear many times in our lives.
These periods occur to encourage us to learn something new about ourselves, and in order to learn something new, we must get out of our comfort zone and do something we have not done before. For this reason, on one of my days of feeling lost, I decided to look for youth exchanges and came across “Be your own boss!”. I took it as a sign of destiny and applied impulsively in the middle of the night because just then I had become intensely interested in topics related to entrepreneurship, self-employment, freelance professions, and it was these topics that the project was dealing with. The topics were relevant not only to my interests, but also to what was happening at the moment. There is an influx of young people who strive to feel as free and independent as possible and are looking for ways to do so.
Participating in such a project and for the first time, what’s more, was a big step for me after the effects of the imposed social isolation and I am grateful to myself for daring to do it as well as to the Bulgarian Youth Forum for the opportunity. We are social beings and we need each other, and the quarantine has unfortunately made many people shut themselves in. It’s great that events like exchanges are still actively existing because we really need them. We are already accustomed to learning from home but the feeling of learning from each other face to face is much better and it can’t be replaced. The interactive way of working is definitely effective. If we decide to be our own bosses, this exchange will give us a good start. We have obtained useful information that will be our guide in the future whether these types of professions are suitable for us or not.
I was lost but at an unfamiliar place among strangers I felt at home. “Be your own boss!” reminds me how much I love new people, new places and learning new things. My constant thirst for the new was quenched during the days spent in Samobor. Each of the participants amazed me in their own way. Some had an amazing memorizing ability, some had an incredibly creative thinking, others were very good at storytelling and everyone was so smart. I was impressed not only by their intelligence, but also by how authentic they were. We were all full of positive energy and that’s why the work environment was so pleasant.
The cultural evenings were a lot of fun and very fulfilling. I learned something new about the traditions of the participating countries and I enjoyed it. It was interesting to watch how people first got closer by groups according to the country they come from but then they relaxed and the barrier disappeared and, in the end, we were all one. My favourite paradox – people are so different and yet so similar.
The exchange “Be your own boss!” enters the list of my favourite memories from 2021 and occupies one of the first places on it. The only negative thing about the project was that it was over, but every ending opens the possibility for a new beginning.
Sofia,
29.08.2021