What does it mean to YOU to live in Europe? Freedom, mobility, solidarity, commitment? Have you ever asked yourself this question? Being European means having our voices heard.
As we all know, the European Elections are happening now. Have you already voted? Are you planning to vote? Today, my post will be slightly different than usual. Today, I would like to tell you about one event, that I was attending last month, which completely changed my perspective on being European.
Thanks to Momentum World and EuroPeers UK, on the 1st and 2nd of April, I had a chance to participate in the Erasmus+ Students as Intercultural Ambassadors – Strengthening European Values conference in Frankfurt and I have to admit, that it was an eye-opening experience.
The conference took place at Goethe University and one of the speakers was Dr. Christina Norwig from EU Educational Programmes and German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, who talked about creating and recreating the Europe from below. She also mentioned that Europe needs people who identify themselves as Europeans, because we have the power to shape Europe. And this is something that we should all understand. WE have the power to decide what do we want for our future. It’s a huge priviledge, that we really underestimate...
I also really enjoyed listening to Wim Gabriels from Erasmus Student Network, who was telling the story about his Erasmus exchange in Turkey. He used a quote from „L’auberge espagnole”, which says „I’m French, Spanish, English, Danish. I’m not one, but many. I’m like Europe, I’m all that.” This speech was one of my favourites, because it made me realise that my perspective is exactly the same. I am Polish, because I was born and raised in this country. I am Scottish, because I have been studying and living here for last four years, but at the same time I am Italian, French, Spanish and Swedish, because all of my amazing friends that have such an impact on my life. My Motherland is Europe and I feel so privileged and lucky to be European.
I believe it’s so important to create different projects in the future in order to maintain the networking and sustainability within our continent. The European Conference in Frankfurt was a life-changing experiance. It hasn’t only changed my perspective on being European, but also made me realise that we should all start working TOGETHER towards the same goals.
