A handful of short-term European volunteers recently finished their one-month volunteering project in Timișoara. Below, there are some of the testimonials about their experience.
Georgia: This voluntary project has provided me with many opportunities. First of all, the opportunity to visit Romania and discover its astonishing culture. It also gave me the opportunity to learn more about other countries since I have been living in an international environment for a month. I also acquired skills in organizing activities and actively participating in the community. Besides, this project helped me develop and gain confidence. I started this as a way to challenge myself and overcome my limitations and I think I was successful!
The most important thing I have achieved this month is a wonderful international family in which everyone respects and cares for others. Spending time with them has helped me so much that I can’t even count. I’m very grateful to them and also to the old me who had the courage to apply and come here.
Yarek: This project gave me the opportunity not only to make new friends and be involved in a local community but also to learn many things about the Romanian language and culture. Working with the youth of Timișoara was a great experience for me. We learned how to plan, organize and promote events, how to break stereotypes and live in a diverse international community.
Mathilde: Coming a second time to Romania after a first volunteer experience was very challenging. But the FITT community was very friendly and the volunteers I was with were amazing! I had a lot of fun with everyone and organizing activities at the youth house was difficult but awesome. We lived and worked together as a family, and I loved that!! I got one of the best experiences in Romania!!
Pamela: Coming to Romania and volunteering at FITT is one of the best things I’ve ever done. Through this volunteer project, I learned how an NGO works, how to organize activities and how to involve youth and the whole community in those activities. Overall, it was a wonderful experience where I had an opportunity to meet new people and learn more about Romanian culture.
Pedro: I don’t think there’s much I can say about what I experienced at Casa Tineretului (Youth House) thanks to FITT. Nevertheless, I would be happy to share some things which, probably, are a bit more deeply into my international soul. Volunteering at the FITT not only made me realize how important non-formal education is but how much we need human support throughout our lives. I think all of us have been empowered by each other and have achieved things that we never expected to achieve. We have created well-organized workshops for random people in a country we hardly know. We promoted our work using different selling techniques and we made gold from what looked like silver.
Overall, we all gather in Timisoara and have found the best of us. The organization worked as a bridge and mediator among us all, but we were the ones who worked together to achieve our own goals. They gave us the river and the boat. It sounds easy, but we had to go with the flow and pedal together. If you just go with the flow, you risk crashing, if you work and put all your strength on the pedal and change the direction you are going to get to see it.
For many other humans the 26th of April of 2022 is just the simple “ National Pretzel Day” or the ordinary “ Hug An Australian Day”. For all of us, known as the “short terms”, is not just that, but the day we started a new adventure in which Europe is our mother and Romania our land.
This day we legally started to be part of a Team Volunteering. A European Solidarity Corps type of project which aim is to gather people from all around the world and make them do some changes in the local community.
This touchy introduction has nothing to do with the extressefull first days of our adventure. If you are a person living in society you would know that beginnings are always difficult.
Matilde (one of our volunteers) said: I was feeling in a complete neutral mood, not happy or sad, just trying to figure out who my life was going to be for a month.
Thanks to the previous volunteers, known as the “long terms”, everything became easier and easier. They were these humans the ones that offered us everything when we had nothing, even some of them picked us up from the Timisoarian airport. They helped us to find ourselves in the biggest palace we have never lived in. An ex sovietic building in which it is impossible not to get lost, unless you walk with a “long term”.
After meeting part of our new family in the volunteers (shorts and longs), we had the chance to meet the other part of our new family members, The FITT team. A workaholic group of people that will work as much as needed in order to flourish the youth center.
Once you know your family, it is good to spend time with them and build a relationship, and that is what we did for the first days. What better place to gather than in a barbecue. Thanks to the extremely typical traditional romanian barbeque we learned that, without mici +mustard the world has not a complete sense.
Our family (Short terms, long terms and FITT workers) worshiping 2 of our more beloved volunteers.
And finally, everything seems to have settled down. We have a huge home full of huge people doing nothing, no, not at all. Well… it seems it is time to talk about what we did and how we did it.
The first activity we did all together was a flash mob. But not the extremely cool Flash mob in which everyone starts dancing, but a relaxed one. Called freeze Flash mob. I do not think I have to explain the term. The point of this pacific way of expressing ourselves was for the Timisoarian inhabitants to see that there are still public places that can be used to educate society in a much more non-formal way.
Yaroslav (a short term) claimed: The flash ove was the perfect way to meet people from the local community who want to do something powerful and useful for the society.
Pamela (a short term) adds: It was interesting to see that we can change the world without words. It was a freeze flash move in which we were not talking. Just by stopping in the middle of the street saying nothing, conscious lots of the inhabitants.
Another wonderful activity we did is promoting. We are promoters, we share content on social media, we distribute international flyers, we flirt as much as we can in discos. To sum up, we love our youth center to be known. The more the people know about casa Tineretului, the more alive the building is and the more we can contribute to society.
There is also physical work in our schedule. In one of the activities we took care of one of the youth houses we have by cleaning it and remodeling it somehow.
1st photo: cleaning one of our multiple youth centers
2nd photo: Communal hug after the flash move
As you can see, we are not just volunteers, but members of a family, promoters, architects and much more. Let’s see what Romania is preparing for us.
6th of May Friday.
Being a volunteer in FITT is not just about working hard to make the world something better, but to enjoy life.
On that Friday, and after working hard in Dacia (one of our favorite youth centers), we had an impressive party at the hallway of our home. We met lots of locals at the same time and for the second time, after the pacific protest. And we could enjoy their culture and share everything that makes us unique.We joined, without noticing, the promotion of the intercultural festival for university students from all around the world.
We were a little bit scared of what could happen that night. Our idea was to go to bed early because we were planning to go to the capital of Serbia, Belgrade. At the end, we gave up trying to sleep and we did a, what is called, “Shot and Serbia”. It is a Timisoarian concept that allows you to go without sleeping to another country outside of The European Union.
The Serbian trip is another topic. It is sad how two countries (Romania and Serbia) that are so culturally similar and share their borders, are so difficult to access from one to another. To reach the capital we needed to go to the Romanian border (Moravița) , pass the border by taxi and, once in Serbia, split. Some of us went hitchhiking to the capital and others went first to the nearest Serbian city Vrsac (by hitchhiking) and, there, took a bus to Belgrade. Going to Belgrade was a wonderful challenging experience.
Once there we succeeded in finding the cheapest hostel in the city and enjoyed the Serbian typical traditional culture. We were eating 24/7 and enjoying the powerful neverending Serbian nightlife.
This was the trip that made us a family and created in us the feeling of protectiveness towards each other.
We fell in love so much with the kindness of their people that it was hard to come back to Romania. Not just because of the sadness, but because of how hard it is to cross the border again.
After visiting another country in Europe we were motivated enough to celebrate the
EUROPE DAY on the 9th of May. During This day we promoted FITT in the best way we could (remember we are professional promoters).
We enjoyed it as Europeans do, but not everything was perfect. Some of our volunteers wanted to share this.
“I liked the activity in the city center because I felt very involved in the team but I did not like the promotion of my country because I felt like they were advertising the French institute instead of my culture.” Mathilde
On the same day we had the “human library”, an activity that took place in Casa Tineretului based on the idea of people becoming books. Basically, each of us had a title and we prepared a speech about our cultures, our volunteering experience and some stereotypes about families in our countries.
“I didn’t like the fact that the living library was not so successful because it was a big opportunity to discover more about every culture that was represented there, and people did not seize it.” Giorgia
Even if, as one of our colleagues said, it was not successful, we had time to reflect about the place we were born in comparison with the place we are volunteering in. It was really powerful for us to see how we need each other, in the way that difference means vitality. If we want to become a story with a happy ending, we need to learn from people around us and from humans that were born in different contexts than us, this is the way we can enrich ourselves.
From the beginning of this week, and after Europe Day, our main focus in FITT was creating workshops for Friday and Saturday, and promoting them during the week. During the next lines we will focus on the intercultural evenings and leisure time, but this doesn’t mean that we were not promoting our activities smartly.
Apart from the cultural facts we experience with others, we learned life hacks that Europe brings us. There are lots of opportunities. Apart from European Solidarity Corps (team volunteering) we learned about opportunities like “Youth Exchanges” or “Training Courses”. We could see how they work with our own eyes as a youth exchange project called “Go green or go home” was taking place in our house. This was the perfect opportunity to enjoy the different cultures in intercultural evenings. We met people from Romania, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Hungary, Philippines, Portugal, Brazil and Ukraine. We danced with them and tried their food and drinks.
After learning how “intercultural evenings” work we were brave enough to start our own traditional dinners.
The first brave ones were the italians, who made their extremely typical traditional pasta on Tuesday. It was not just traditional pasta but an intercultural one, since all of us were preparing it.
The menu was
1st course: Homemade traditional pasta
Beverage: Italian extremely traditional wine from Profi.
1st Dessert: Tiramisu
2nd Dessert: Italian Karaoke.
On wednesday it was the turn of the Spanish intercultural traditionally typical night.
1st plate
Typical Tradicionals Spanish TAPAS
Jamón Serrano
Serrano Ham
Aceitunas con queso y anchoas
Olives with cheese and anchovies
– Typical Tradicional TORTILLA DE PATATAS
Potatoes Omelette
– Typical Tradicional (more from Asturias but still Spanish) CACHOPOS
Something súper tradicional that don’t have translations in other languages
– For drink: Typical Tradicional Spanish SANGRIA DE VINO
Wine sangria
These days we learned that Casa Tineretului will always be our home because “mi casa es tu casa” as the Spanish say.
We realized this concept thanks to Maria, a previous short-term from Spain who came back here for a week. As she said, we can all go on with our lives but a piece of our hearts will always stay here. She left after the Spanish night and we wish her the best of luck in everything, we love you Maria <3.
On Thursday we had Moroccan night, here we have to do a small appreciation post to Ayoub who cooked alone for all of us and made us travel to his Country by printing pictures of moroccan cities and putting them on the table. Also another appreciation post to Nadìa who took part in this intercultural evening.
On Friday some of our workshops took place:
-”Draw your rights” in Dambovita by Pamela, Radu and Giorgia. An activity where one participant draws one of the human rights from the UDHR and the others have to guess which one is it. They took the idea from the Compass and the main objective was to spread awareness about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Milena, Ayoub, Helene and Tomas went with them to help.
-“Game tournament” in Casa Tineretului by Mathilde, Yaroslav and Silvia. During this workshop they facilitated different mini games like kahoot and the guessing of the song.
On this day we also had to say goodbye to the youth exchangers. What better way to do it than throw a wild party in the garage and continue it into the club “D’Arc” . For some of us the night ended with a so-called “powerful nap”.
On Saturday my workmates Milenius and Helenius and I went to the seniors center to prepare our workshop EU(ROPA) . It is not the most inclusive title for the activity as it is only understandable for Spanish speakers. The thing is that we were reusing some old clothes to create new fashion or products for our homes.
Before our workshop some of us went to the gardening and picnic in the lovely Dacia, that youth center in which we are working day and night to give a second chance, to create a home in what is now a Whole abandoned space.
Gardening is really good to know yourself and the people you work with. At the beginning we were all laboring the land individually, until someone realized that it did not make sense to work like that. This person organized all of usl to work together and in the same place to have our planting spot. We did it and in 5 minutes we did more than one hour of individual work.
We had the international picnic and we went to prepare our workshop.
There were various participants who knew, some of them better than us, how to create new out of old clothes and fabrics of all tipe. We all learned together that even stinky and old things need a second chance.
On this night we had the opportunity to go to a concert in Casa tineretului. The band Dirty shirts was playing their hard rock in the most expressive way.
Between Friday and Saturday most of us left to visit other cities, but the ones that remained had also fun going on bike adventures and making homemade pizza.
This day we legally started to be part of a Team Volunteering. A European Solidarity Corps type of project which aim is to gather people from all around the world and make them do some changes in the local community.
This touchy introduction has nothing to do with the extressefull first days of our adventure. If you are a person living in society you would know that beginnings are always difficult.
Matilde (one of our volunteers) said: I was feeling in a complete neutral mood, not happy or sad, just trying to figure out who my life was going to be for a month.
Thanks to the previous volunteers, known as the “long terms”, everything became easier and easier. They were these humans the ones that offered us everything when we had nothing, even some of them picked us up from the Timisoarian airport. They helped us to find ourselves in the biggest palace we have never lived in. An ex sovietic building in which it is impossible not to get lost, unless you walk with a “long term”.
After meeting part of our new family in the volunteers (shorts and longs), we had the chance to meet the other part of our new family members, The FITT team. A workaholic group of people that will work as much as needed in order to flourish the youth center.
Once you know your family, it is good to spend time with them and build a relationship, and that is what we did for the first days. What better place to gather than in a barbecue. Thanks to the extremely typical traditional romanian barbeque we learned that, without mici +mustard the world has not a complete sense.
Our family (Short terms, long terms and FITT workers) worshiping 2 of our more beloved volunteers.
And finally, everything seems to have settled down. We have a huge home full of huge people doing nothing, no, not at all. Well… it seems it is time to talk about what we did and how we did it.
The first activity we did all together was a flash mob. But not the extremely cool Flash mob in which everyone starts dancing, but a relaxed one. Called freeze Flash mob. I do not think I have to explain the term. The point of this pacific way of expressing ourselves was for the Timisoarian inhabitants to see that there are still public places that can be used to educate society in a much more non-formal way.
Yaroslav (a short term) claimed: The flash ove was the perfect way to meet people from the local community who want to do something powerful and useful for the society.
Pamela (a short term) adds: It was interesting to see that we can change the world without words. It was a freeze flash move in which we were not talking. Just by stopping in the middle of the street saying nothing, conscious lots of the inhabitants.
Another wonderful activity we did is promoting. We are promoters, we share content on social media, we distribute international flyers, we flirt as much as we can in discos. To sum up, we love our youth center to be known. The more the people know about casa Tineretului, the more alive the building is and the more we can contribute to society.
There is also physical work in our schedule. In one of the activities we took care of one of the youth houses we have by cleaning it and remodeling it somehow.
1st photo: cleaning one of our multiple youth centers
2nd photo: Communal hug after the flash move
As you can see, we are not just volunteers, but members of a family, promoters, architects and much more. Let’s see what Romania is preparing for us.
I find it incredible that a year has passed since I decided to come to Timisoara to do a European volunteering project. After a year of feeling lost and unmotivated, this experience came at the perfect time to give me back the desire and enthusiasm to do different things.
ESC’s volunteers
During this year, I have done more things than I can remember, and I have learned in so many aspects, that I still need time to process it. From construction and DIY, through marketing and social networks, to community engagement and facilitating activities for young people…
But it has also been a process of learning and personal discovery that has given me a lot. Living with 15 people in the same space has made me realize how important respect, patience, and empathy are. The multicultural environment in which we have moved here has made us more tolerant and aware of our weaknesses and strengths. We have experienced what solidarity is and we have learned a lot from each other. Despite some moments of chaos or small conflicts, there have been good vibes at Casa Tineretului all the time.
One of our international dinners
What, without a doubt, has made this experience something special and unrepeatable has been the people. Friends (who are already family), coordinators, youth workers, colleagues, locals… people who have inspired me and given me their time and love selflessly, and with whom I have shared everything. People who have made me feel at home from the first minute, and who have shown me that the bonds you create in experiences like these are much stronger than you can imagine at the beginning. They have made this something more than volunteering.
Life team
It is indisputable that what volunteering brings you goes far beyond the mere work you do in the host organization. But it is not only the project itself that makes this experience something remarkable that you will remember all your life. It’s all the extra hours you spend with colleagues, the talks that make you be more open-minded to new realities and points of view, teamwork, commitment, and dedication to a project that can have a very positive impact on the community… and, of course, all those fun moments you spend with your people.
Despite fatigue, improvisation or doubts, all this has been very worthwhile, and as much as I try to explain what all of this has meant for me, few people can understand it.
I have shared so many things, enjoyed everything so much, and received so many from others and from this experience… it excites me to know that I have been part of something so great that it has inspired, motivated, or encouraged other young people.
Bega river
This will be with me forever and I hope to remember with pride that together with FITT and YCUP2, a group of international volunteers made magic.
I am back home exhausted but happy, grateful for the opportunity, proud of everything we achieved and looking forward to being back in Timisoara soon and seeing my dear adventure partners again.
In the past few days, I have had a much better opportunity to settle into the daily routine of working here and to get used to the usual rhythm of life as a volunteer at FITT.
During the week, I was able to get to know more of FITT’s youth centres and help out with various renovations and improvements. We scraped and repainted walls, renovated a bathroom and renewed the roofs.
In addition to the work in the youth centres, we also helped with the construction and extension of a transit centre for refugees from Ukraine, which is now located in the basement of the youth centre. For the facility, we brought in beds and put them in partitioned areas. We also set up areas for eating and a small dining area for children, and cleaned the entire accommodation and put it in good condition.
Besides the work, we also had the opportunity to get to know two countries through organised cultural evenings. While the Spanish volunteers prepared a delicious buffet for us, we learned about traditional dances and were allowed to taste some local food at the Romanian evening.
I also went on excursions with other volunteers over the past two weekends to get to know Romania and the area better. We spent one weekend in Budapest, where we spent our time seeing the city, eating well and relaxing in the thermal baths. The other weekend we rented two cars and went on a short road trip to get to know Corvin Castle in Hunedoara, Sibiu and the regions around Timisoara better.
There are always certain things in life that one would like to do, but that is not the right time for it on one side or another. I had always wanted to live a long period out of Spain (I have had other experiences abroad, but only for a few months).
After one of the strangest years of my life, I decided to go for a whole year to Romania. Yes, Romania. What I didn’t know at that time was that this country was going to welcome me with open arms and teach me so many things.
I arrived with zero expectations about the work I would do, the people I would live and work with, and the city in general. And there you are! From the first minute, I felt like it would be one of the best experiences and I would not regret the decision made.
Views through my window
If I had to define my volunteering year in one word, I would say intensity—intensity in every way. I enjoyed it, cried, had bad moments, was very excited, lost desire, and laughed (a lot).
There’s been something new to do every day, and I love that. I have got skills that I thought I would not have in my life, and I have done many things for the first time (the magic of first times). It is a frantic experience. There have been days of hard work that made me think about what was I doing there. (Yes, I have had a few moments to think about myself and my future -only sometimes 😉) and, in the end, it always wins the bright side of things, and in this case, there have been plenty of them.
Talking to a friend the other day, she said: are you aware of how many people you’ve met this year? It gets to the point where you get used to meeting new people every week/month and don’t realise the reality. And what a great people! One of the best things I have taken away from this experience is people.
It has been challenging to live with many people in the same apartment (we have been up to 16). Each one of different countries and with its ways of living. It is stunning thinking about people you probably would not know in other circumstances, who now live and work with you, and they are essential in your life (and how great to have houses around the world 😉).
The bonds created by being part of a European volunteering project, and in this case, being part of FITT, are so strong that few people understand what it feels like, and it’s hard to explain if you don’t live it.
My people
When it is all over, you wonder if it has been worth it and, if you have left your mark on the project and others the same way they have left it on you. And in my case, I can’t be prouder of what we have created together all this time.
My time as a short-term volunteer at FITT in Timisoara is coming to an end. Soon I will board the plane and say goodbye to Romania. But now it’s time to reflect on the days that have recently passed.
The last week served both to finish some remaining youth centres and to prepare for the work on the local senior centre, which will also be used by the youth in the future.
In a first meeting with the seniors in their centre, we were welcomed very hospitably and were allowed to get to know the organisation and its activities through many stories and tales during a relaxed get-together. We spent the following days removing waste around the centre, repairing the roof and painting the outside wall with new colours. We also brought some outdoor furniture with us to enjoy time outside when the weather is nice.
Also, on my last weekend in this project, we went on a trip together to the surrounding area. In Lugoj, we met up with the other volunteers and had the opportunity to exchange stories and get to know each other better over a BBQ and campfire.
Now I have only three days left, which I hope to enjoy with the other volunteers. I hope that besides the completion of the senior centre and its opening ceremony, there will be enough time to say goodbye to my fellow volunteers. I am sure that we could make several strong bonds and that the contact (even if we all go back to our countries) will not be broken.
All the roads lead to Dorobantilor! More than 13 nationalities travelled to Timisoara, Romania. We came here ready to start and finish our project, meaning renovating the youth centre Dorobantilor.
-Social activities were the first and most important thing that helped us integrate and get to know each other, their effect is understanding through teamwork and acceleration towards the goal.
-Boom, shaka, Laka are teams that create a kind of competition and vitality in our collective work.
-We have created social media accounts.
collective work
We are on our way to actually work and some obstacles that were not taken into account began to appear day after day. I love obstacles 😍
That changed and separated one group from the other and the beginning of a station that made us live successive stations.
It is the digital work week
The obstacles still did not give up our confrontation, but we learned a lot from the previous problem, and we were ready to work and focus on two objectives, which are to provide the centres and to work to collect information by speaking to the population close to the centre: Community engagement 📝
And in the end, like a winning team, we are all ready and very excited to see the video that we have created. Our memories forever!
Here you have the lyrics of a song that we have invented:
DOROBANTILOR ROAD
Yeeeeaahhh…. We’re gonna take the pipes from Dorobantilor
We’re gonna work when they let us go
Can you come and take my flyer?
Please come and take my flyer
Can you come and take my flyer?
Before the time expires We’re gonna scratch the walls
We’re gonna fix the holes
We’re gonna write about it and put it in a song (ASA!)
We’re gonna cut the wood
We’re gonna make a stool
We’re gonna call Vasili to check over the tools
Can anybody tell me something?
Please tell me something Can anyone tell me something?
I didn’t come for nothing
Riding in the Logan
Walking down the river
I go take my langos
I think I have the fever (ASA!)
Eleven different counties
working all together
When I paint the ceiling
can you hold my ladder?
Can you come and take my flyer?
Please come and take my flyer
Can you come and take my flyer?
Before the time expires
We’re gonna take the pipes from Dorobantilor We’re gonna work when they let us go x 2 x 2
I have been in Lugoj for a bit less than 3 weeks, but it feels like it’s been more time. It is very different from where I live in Portugal but somehow it kind of feels like home. It’s very comforting, everyone is very welcoming and nice.
It is weird to think it has already been 3 weeks but also weird to think it has only been that. It’s a feeling very hard to describe honestly. Everything has been happening so fast, but I have established a routine and it feels like I’ve known everyone for more time.
The youth centre from Lugoj is a place where we all feel good. We are working but in a very relaxed way. There’s always room for laughter, music, discussion, and new ideas. Talking with the other volunteers, hearing, and discussing ideas for the youth centre is very exciting. I think we have really good plans, and we have the opportunity to do meaningful and fun things here.
Activities with the locals in Lugoj
In these past weeks, I have met the local volunteers and other locals. Everyone is very nice, most of them are excited to get to know us, learn something about our countries and how we got here. When we are in a group, we find a way to communicate, a big mix of English and a bit of Romanian. The environment is always fun and chill. We are learning every day, whether it is Romanian words, traditions, or just curiosities about the country. Also, we are planning, promoting, and developing activities, which also makes me learn a lot, obviously.
Last week we planned our first event: a treasure hunt. We thought about clues, riddles, codes, characters, superpowers, and a story to put it all together. It was a well-taught and planned event, but I think that the participants’ engagement and enthusiasm were what made it really magical. They were really into the story and the mystery. My character, “the black witch” had the power to make the participants be in silence for one minute if I managed to touch them. They took this very seriously and were running from me like crazy and always got “scared” when I got close to them. They solved the mystery and we all got together, made a bonfire to eat and drink. I think this day was one of my favourites since I arrived in Romania, everyone was so happy and comfortable. It was even better than what we had imagined.
I’m excited to continue the work we started and create bigger and better things.
After two absolutely amazing weeks in Lugoj, all hell broke loose for me. I am indeed talking about what we have all been dealing with for the last 2 years, Covid. It was the first time I had to be absolutely locked in a room and it felt like everything was falling apart. It’s a moment when you have nowhere to turn, no one to stop you from thinking, from being alone with your own thoughts.
The bads of my isolation
While I had amazing roommates who were always concerned about me and did their absolute best to be there for me it was still a very hard time. I spent 8 days in that confined space that started to feel like the walls were closing down on me, it was a special kind of torment to spend so much time with my thoughts. My mind was constantly thinking of everything I ever did, every chance I took, everything that has ever happened to me, good or bad. In moments like this we often think of all that’s bad, we wonder if we could have changed things for us and if so how different would we be today. Would the things I would have liked to change in my past affect my presence in Lugoj? How different of a person would I be? And we keep on wondering about hypotheses and what-ifs. What if after this experience I will still feel as lost as before? What if I am not good enough to do what I want to? What if, what if, what if…
The goods of my isolation
In the middle of so much wondering and questioning there were also good parts. There will never be enough words to thank those that have helped, that made me stop thinking, that made me feel less alone, that showed worry towards me. What those people did was the best they could ever do without even knowing how much they were helping me feel less lonely, less anxious, less depressed and more like the person I want to be. They showed me that we don’t always have to count on those that we’ve known for the longest time and that know our deepest darkest secrets. They showed me that I could indeed trust them in a moment of need, that they will be here on bad and good days, just like I will do the same for them.
I am thankful for what this experience has brought me so far and I hope it keeps on being as good or better!
