It was a wonderful ride and one of the best decisions I have ever made!

I fell in love with being in a multicultural environment!

Living in a new country, getting to know people and cultures from all over the world showed me how amazing and big our world is and how many opportunities there are in it. Before that I didn’t have much experience with people from other countries, it was so great to learn new interesting facts. I fell in love with being in a multicultural environment!

Improving language skills:

Here I improved my English a lot. My interview as a potential project participant with the coordinators – it was my first experience of long communication in English, oh how stressful it was. And already in Krakow I communicated in English every day. And from the second month of the project I was an English teacher for the most wonderful Polish ladies of golden age. And I also learned Polish to the level of being able to explain and communicate.

Work, which I enjoyed the most:

Here I made sure of my photographic skills. Part of my project was supporting IB Polska Social Media team, where I helped with photos, videos and texts. It was one of my favorite things to do, and the Multicultural Center on Zabłocie is one of my favorite places.

Connecting & experiencing:

Here I realized that I love teaching, not only because of my best students of English classes. I also did classes about photography, queer history and ecology. I loved the preparation process and seeing the interest and effort in the eyes of those who participated. I will always remember the phrases of my English students: “You were my best teacher” from Jola and “I had one son and now I have two” from Henia. And the phrase of the guy from my photography class, with whom we have the same name: “I don’t remember ever being into anything, but now I realize I want to do photography.” At such moments you realize that it’s all for a reason.

I don’t have enough words to describe how grateful I am for all of this.
How many amazing and wonderful people, how much support, how much love is all around. This project has shown me what life can be like. Happy to know such people!

Thank you to everyone involved in ESC and IB Polska. It is very hard to write all this, very hard to say goodbye. I wish this experience will never end. I miss you already.

And remember: Don’t dream it, be it!

Article by Artsiom,
European Solidarity Corps Volunteer