How has it been 6 months since I arrived in Austria? Fair warning, time passes by so fast in your volunteering.
Hi, I’m Sonia, I came from Spain to be a volunteer in Austria and I’m so happy I took the chance.
I am a volunteer working in Kulturlabor Stromboli, a cultural centre in Hall in Tirol, a beautiful town near Innsbruck. Working here would vary from tasks like office work, taking pictures of the events, preparing the local and so much more. After finishing my degree in Social Education, for some circumstances, I knew I wanted to try something new, things related with culture, stage and music; it’s something I’ve always been interested in so when I found this volunteering, I knew it was my chance.
Before coming here, all my friends and family were more scared than me: “aren’t you scared? Alone, in a new country? With a language you don’t speak?” And my answer was always: “no, that’s part of the experience”; of course I was a bit nervous, had many doubts and questions, but mainly I was excited and ready for the next 10 months.
Try to explain all the emotions is nearly impossible, you will go through different stages from joy to uncertainty, and all in between. I would share a special memory for me, it’s simple, but it meant a lot to me: it was a Friday night of November, all the volunteers met to catch up, share stories and have a good time. When I came back to my town it started to snow, so when I got off the train in Hall, I took my time getting to my apartment, just enjoying the snow, and reflecting on my time here. It was the first time I have seen snow like that in my life, so it was special for me, and I don’t know, I just started thinking of everything that was going on, how in just a couple of months my life was changing, how many things I couldn’t even imagine six months before where taking place and what the future might still hold.
A piece of advice: send the application, until you try it there’s no possibility of them choosing you, so take the risk, send the application; maybe is not this or maybe yes, or maybe you find something that works for you or it’s not what you expected, but that’s the beauty of this opportunities, you have to take a little jump and be open to all the possibilities, you’d be surprise what you can find.
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Text by Sonia
Das Freiwilligenprojekt wird vom InfoEck Tirol koordiniert! Mehr Beispielprojekte findet ihr hier.
