Testimonio Tanja Andrea Nikolic | 28 años

EVS in Barcelona. Tanja is both italian and croatian, and a volunteer for Asociación Mundus in the office of Santa Coloma de Gramenet. She will stay with the team from february 2019 till september 2019, hmainly helping the communication department.

Personality test:

A song that you cannot stand:

Anitta with Beky G. This song appears like a promo on You tube in between almost every other video ...

Your favourite ice-cream’s flavour:

I don't have one, actually I don't like ice cream.

A book you would like to re-read:

Difficult question, I have more than one, but I would like to mention two  of them: The Dispossessed, of Ursula K. Le Guin and Demian, of Hermann Hesse.

A secret obsession:

....it stays a secret!

An essential work tool:

Music.

A destination to get lost in:

In any city , on the top of a roof of an abandoned building, in an urban area, or in the middle of tha nature, or in front of the sea...looking toward everything I can see and imagining all the rest that cannot be seen.

About my EVS:

Why did you decide to volunteer?

In first place because I wanted to improve my knowledge about some programs, to learn new things, to get into a new culture, elearn about the traditions and after to compare them with the ones I was used to live in. Learning spanish, living in a whole new country, try to overcome my comfort zone were other that made me decide to try this experience, that after in one way or another stays always unique in your life.

It was since a while that I was looking for a volunteering opportunity and not only for projects that were part of the European Solidarity Corps but also for other kind of programs such as the Civil Service and the Eurodyssee. They are all great opportunities but with a different structure, and an Evs is still I guess the most interesting one.

I did different interviews taking in consideratione some of them but in the end I was chosen for a project in Barcelona and I went for this adventure.

Why an EVS?

Because from my point of view a volunteering project can really help you to gain experience in the working field you would like to find a job. My decision was related to this idea for example, but anyone has its own motivation, it could be a sabbatical year or to take time to rest and think or just to try a new experience. For me this was a step on my path for being a better graphic designer. The organisation that has chosen me is in charge of many european projects about youth exchanges, so graphics are reallly necessary almost on a daily base as well the managment of the web pages.

What is your project about? 

I have different tasks depending on the necessities of the moment; at the beginning the team had a project with a frenc partner ongoing and it was urgent to do a web page so this was my task; the project was about the immigration topic. And still is a 'living' project because as it is evolving the page has to be edited. A part from this I did some other typical graphic tasks like logos, or make a manual in in design .

On the othe hand I was given some atypical tasks for my skills , and they were completely new and specifically about the communication area, such as translating parts of the Mundus web page , editing interviews, creating posts for events or opportunities on social media and using excel for databases and Canva for other things.

I'm also doing the Linguistic Cafè with all the other volunteers which  is a tandem exchange of languages, once per week, then I have my english and italian classes for the group of students that have taken part in the VEt project as a formation to help them when they will go abroad doing their interships. All this activities took part in the cultural center Mas Fonollar.

And how do you feel about your expectations and goals right now?

A lot of them are in accordance with the ideas I had and as reguards the goals I hope I would  be able to carry out the majority of them.

Did you feel like being part of a process?

Yes,I did; it is a very dynamic project that implies being in touch with young people, mobility exchanges, communication... Therefore I'm supposed to meet a lot of new people and as well encounter different challanges on the way.

Who benefits from your volunteering?

My tasks don't have a direct audience like it happens with projects that involve a direct contact with kids or people;  but indirectly all the people connected with the projects promoted by the organisation are affected by my contribute to the communication team that stays beside all.

About perspectives, does this project encourage you to keep working in this framework in the future?

I already did have ideas about the type of job I would like to do, and this project helped me to understand some things both encouraging some expectations and discouraging others.

What do you like more about living in Barcelona?

Barcelona is a very big city where you can encounter all that you need, it has the beach, the mountains, parks, monuments, squares, places where you can enjoy your time reading or being  with friends and we should not forget the many cultural and social centers where a lot of creativity is performed and the University area.

Your best project memory:

The event called Can Europa, organized by the whole Mundus team, from Barcelona and Zaragoza; and it is a big "orientation meeting" for the students that are part of the VET project.

With what moment do you stay right now?

Drawing, on the beach.

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