Hello everybody. Just three months ago I was writing my presentation for my “Welcome” article in EFIL’s newsletter, right after my first lunch at the office with my new colleagues, and it feels so weird now to be working at the “Goodbye” one.
I am leaving my traineeship earlier than planned because of a job offer which I am very happy about, but I am not doing it without regret. These three months at EFIL Secretariat have flown by much faster than I could expect. I had the chance to assist EFIL staff members in several departments, working on Partner Development as well as on Advocacy, and this made my experience particularly rich and diverse. In Partner Development, I could follow the different steps of establishing and supporting a volunteer-based organisation (in Romania), I have learned to work on statutes and developed my networking skills. In the field of Advocacy, I attended meetings at the European Parliament, actively participated in the Youth Forum campaign on youth mobility by running a stand at the EYE 2014 event, and learned to develop and manage an online course. On top of all this, I have been taking care of the past two editions of this newsletter, which I hope you have enjoyed reading.
I have enjoyed a lot the intercultural atmosphere of this tiny office at the heart of Europe, where I could listen to stories and experiences from all over the world, run for a Danish Easter egg hunt, followed by the sharing of a big Italian-style chocolate egg (yes, chocolate rules here, that’s the first thing I learned!) and taste amazing Russian specialities. In a nutshell, I would like to thank everyone in the EFIL Secretariat for welcoming me and making my time here this pleasant.
All the very best!
Roberta