Why European Mobilities matter and how they are changing you…

When we’re kids, we dream of growing up. We scold adults, warning them that when we grow up we will make changes. We are eager to grow up precisely to discover what it feels like to be an adult, how we can do things differently, how we can look important wearing a suit and going to work, what heels feel like on our feet or and how we can gain the capacity to understand what’s written in books.

But… when we grow up we miss being small, we forget about the desires and motivations we had then. We just remember that the world seemed smaller in the hands of a child, easier to face and more beautiful.

But for those who want to keep their optimism high, who want to never stop exploring and who believe that a child’s dreams are easily attainable, European opportunities are the doors that entice us to walk through them.

When I went on my first project, I had a lot of nerves and fears in my pocket precisely because I thought I would face the unpredictable. A few years later, I have experienced the unpredictable in over 20 countries. I returned home, each time richer in happiness, peace, curiosity, knowledge and friendships.

You feel like every hour you spend on a project changes you. You look at the people around you and you are driven to listen, without starting from a defined reality and trying to understand them, where they grew up, what they saw and what made them the way they are today. In activities, you feel the emotions of speaking in public, moving, dancing, expressing your views, but you do nothing to banish these emotions because you know that you are living some special moments. In the morning when you go out for a run or a coffee, you are overwhelmed with excitement for every building that has a different architectural style, every tree branch that is different from what you have at home and every possibility that this walk might be longer than you originally thought.

You go back to your country and feel inspired to change the world, you feel like it’s not so big and it’s starting to get so small that it can fit in your hands, just like it did when you were a kid. You think you can dress in curiosity and discover a few more countries or you can dress in ideas and create change that will happen in your community, for you, for them or in fact, for all of us. You feel like your heels are the people from all over the globe, giving you the message to visit them and supporting you in whatever you want to do. You live in a book, where you realize you are your own author with each energizer that seems to wake you up and bring you closer to the desires and motivations you may have missed a little in the past.

For me, while studying in Belgium through an Erasmus, every time when I was arriving in Ghent I loved to go for a walk in a neighborhood of houses that was full of mural art. In my first Erasmus+ project in France, I formed a friendship that took place in 4 countries and still counting. In Estonia, I was impressed by the young people and the radical self expression they had. In Luxembourg, I learned what a truly modern museum is, in Italy I was overwhelmed by how many extraordinary artists were hiding under the hats of simple passers-by on the street when they joined the street singers, in Poland I really learned what cultural diversity is all about – these are just a few of my experiences that changed me over time thankfully to this european mobilities.

I think European opportunities are one of the basic steps to becoming a better version of yourself. I think those who write projects, don’t realize how much their work matters in society. I think that those who participate in mobility do not realise what a beautiful path lies ahead of them. I think those who promote mobility are like angels who make sure that happiness is shared. I believe that you, the reader, did not reach the end of this story by accident.