I am 18 years old and finished school this summer. I love trying new things, finding challenges and meeting new people. I am a total fan of nature, anytime I am outside I feel the urge to be productive and to explore. With my family I have travelled to several countries like Namibia, Morocco, Greenland and Slovenia, so the interest in meeting new cultures and seeing different lifestyles came to me already at a young age.

I am happiest when I spend time with people who share the same values and humour as me, like my family and friends. I have realized that hearing different stories, experiencing different countries and cultures and especially getting to know new people makes people grow their personalities and horizons. Going abroad and travelling gives me this opportunity. Most of the time I am a person who loves the sense of community but like most people, I still need ‘’me-time”. In my free time, I go hiking, swimming, and cycling. I have danced for the past 10 years and for the past few months I have been into yoga and swimming. I draw a lot and sometimes try in writing. For two years I have been doing analogue photography, especially black and white. Most of the time I try to capture people in different and unexpected situations. For several years my interest in sustainability grew and I try to integrate it into my daily life. Reducing waste, living vegetarian/vegan and being flexible with my bike such as reducing my way of consuming in general when it comes to buying new things like clothes became more and more important to me.

Some years ago I realized that working and being with children, in general, makes me very happy. I chose to come to Krakow for trying the work with children and to improve my knowledge about pedagogical education and teaching skills. Living in a different culture, surrounded by a different language, different people and away from your home is something I have never done before. It is challenging and an experience I wanted to try.

Nele has joined us as a participant of the Intergeneration project under the European Solidarity Corps, which is a funding programme of the European Union that creates opportunities for young people to volunteer, work, train and run their own solidarity projects that benefit communities around Europe.