First Days at “Euni Partners”
My name is Yelyzaveta (Lisa) Glybchenko and I am from Ukraine. I am passionate about international relations, conflict resolution, art and design, visual communication for reconciliation, and social entrepreneurship. I had been studying in Blagoevgrad, at the American University in Bulgaria, for 3.5 years by the time I applied to intern for the Association “Euni Partners”. Having participated in several youth exchanges sponsored by Erasmus+ this year, I understood how much I wanted to contribute to the local and international development and decided to find an association to intern for. “Euni Partners” seemed to be the optimal choice since the association conducts insightful programs with great ideas behind: digital upskilling trainings for educators, digital trainings for senior citizens, educational programs for children with visual impairments, and cooperation projects with neighboring countries in the sphere of tourism and food sectors. For someone who studies Political Science and International Relations, like me, an internship of such kind is a rare opportunity to gain practical experience in NGO, project management and working within the framework of Erasmus+.
It has been just a couple of weeks that I am enjoying my internship at “Euni Partners”, but I already learned a lot from the team and the opportunities we have had. For example, I got a chance to take part in the forum on cooperation between Bulgaria and Greece in Blagoevgrad, where Bulgarian and Greek associations presented their work and current projects. For an international student like me, it is a unique opportunity to learn more about the cultures and social realities in Bulgaria and the Balkan countries. Of course, it is sometimes overwhelming to run from classes to the internship and back to classes, but I enjoy living a full life. And my experience would not have been complete without the internship at “Euni Partners”. I am looking forward to my future tasks in the association and bringing this experience to my home country – Ukraine. And for every student hesitating whether or not to add an internship to their to-do lists – definitely become an intern!
Some photos to illustrate my experience:
- Second day at internship: meeting with Greek partners and other associations.
- When the whole campus of the American University if still sleeping, I am already walking to work 🙂
