From April 22 to 30, a group of students (including myself) traveled to Croatia, to the city of Samobor to participate in an Erasmus +, called #eSmart about the impact of social networks and the Internet on health mentality of young people.
On April 20 we took a flight from Madrid to Zagreb. Well, for those who don’t know – the Erasmus + program usually allows participants to go for a few days before the Erasmus, in order to do some sightseeing in the area. That is why, before the start of the official project, the group of Spanish students went sightseeing in Zagreb. There, we ate typical dishes like Štrukli, and enjoyed walking through its streets and museums.
On the 22nd of April was when we arrived at the Hostel where the project would be carried out. The project began the next morning, with all participants gathered. There were participants from six different countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Romania, Turkey, and Spain, of course.
The international teams were formed by six boys and girls, all with a common goal: to learn more about the subject and enjoy getting to know different cultures.
We carry out workshops on topics as diverse as: self-awareness, life before and after the appearance of social networks, social skills, empathy in networks, the timeline of the invention of the Internet and networks, what a day would be like without the Internet, motivation, etc.
Each team was assigned a series of workshops, so, for example, we were in charge of the workshops on empathy, the timeline and before and after social networks. We had complete creative freedom to develop the workshops, so most of the teams chose to follow a dynamic and practical way of working.
In all the workshops we played “games” or work in groups with people of different nationalities, which contributed to greater unity between all of us.
In this environment of cultural diversity, we not only learned and delved into the specific topic (impact of social networks, solutions, proposals…), but we also connected with people with cultures very different from ours, but with more things in common with us than we imagined at first: the desire to know, travel, discover…
If
someone asked me what this project has given me personally, I would say that I
have learned a lot about social networks, and how to manage them better.
However, the real learning that
came with me in the suitcase is not that, but rather what my project colleagues transmitted to me.
I have seen them work in the workshops until the late hours on night so that the next day we could all enjoy their “classes”; I have heard them tell overwhelming stories and other funny ones, and I have also heard them talk about their beliefs, ideas, what their country is like, the music they listen to, and even the childhood series that we all agree to have seen…
In short, each Erasmus + is unique, we will never learn the same things twice in a row, because the project is not the topic, but the people who make it up.
So, I hope that with this article you have managed to awaken the desire to participate in a project, and see this experience for yourself 😊
