Adam in Germany

Hey! I’m Ádám and during the last 12 months I was a European Solidarity Corps volunteer in Leipzig, Germany. 

I applied just randomly after seeing the call on YBB’s Facebook page and ended up getting accepted to the media department of a social center, called Die Villa. This is one of the main organizations that hosts and assigns volunteers in Leipzig, so they were really professional and helpful all throughout the year. It was also great to be in this huge “volunteer bubble” with maybe 15-20 people in the city, doing the same as me. 

I had a room in a shared flat with 6 other people, which made me anxious when I found out about it, but it was one of the best parts of this experience. We had quite nice rooms, a huge shared space and two balconies even, so there was always opportunity to socialize, but everyone had their own private little sanctuary also. During the year we hosted many gatherings, barbecues and even a pool party - it was only an inflatable children’s pool, but still. I’m really thankful for the people that I was surrounded by in this flat and also the other volunteers that I got to know, because they made this year really special for me. 

My workplace was really cool too. The office was in the same building as the flat, so I didn’t need to do much commuting. This department on the Villa deals with media education to children and teenagers, with topics such as photography, filmmaking, game development  and social media. I got to be part of the organization and facilitation of the workshops and my task was to handle our Instagram page too. I have a degree in media, but never worked in this field before, so it was really great to finally gain real-life experience, and I feel like I improved a lot too, for example in content-creation, organizational skills and interacting with people. 

My colleagues were really supportive and always encouraged me to have my own project, plus all the tools and equipment was available to use in the office, so I started a podcast for Spotify about the Villa and volunteer life. We made about 10 episodes with the help of my friends and coworkers, and I’m super happy that I will be able to listen back to these years down the line. 

During this year I got to travel to many cool places inside and outside of Germany also. Leipzig is cool in itself, but luckily Dresden and Berlin are nearby, so we often went with little groups to explore them. It’s also nice about the ESC that everyone has two seminars that they can attend, that are usually someplace else, so you get to travel with all expenses covered and meet many new volunteers from all over the country. I’ve had mines in Weimar and Halle, both times in really nice forest areas. During the winter I was also able to dedicate enough training to complete a marathon in Hamburg in April, which is definitely one of my highlights of this year, and I’m especially happy that I got to do it with one of my closest friends, Bohdan, who I met here also. 

The last few months were a bit stressful, because I decided to stay in Leipzig, so I had to find a flat and a new job after the ESC, but luckily everything worked out, even with the German bureaucracy - they really like their papers. 

I am extremely happy that I took this opportunity and became a volunteer. The memories, experiences and friends that I gained here are so precious to me and I will always think back of this time with a smile. I wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone!