One year later…

by Isabella Floris

In my life I’ve always wanted to travel around the world, to discover new places, to talk to different people and to meet and understand new points of view.

Since I was a child I was very attracted to people who speak languages different from mine and I think that for this reason I studied political science and foreign languages.

During my studies I was very interested in diplomatic relationships but I felt empty, like something was going wrong, but I didn’t know what.

To complete my studies I needed a sort of stage and a mate who studied with me suggested that I do a month of teaching in an NGO in which voluntary people taught immigrant people the Italian Language.

So I started to work there and I discovered I liked teaching so much and to help people to be happy and at the same time I could improve my foreign languages talking to them.

After my degree I started to study to become an Italian teacher to foreign people and finally I took another diploma.

Later I started to work in a Private School with foreign children, in Italy, but another time I felt something wrong, because I really liked to teach and to stay with children but I didn’t know what was going wrong with this kind of way of life.

Suddenly I broke up with the school because I felt very tired and the salary was very poor, I broke up with my boyfriend because when he asked me to marry him I felt I was not in love with him and I decided to come back home.

During this time I worked a few months with foreign people in the State school, and I stayed alone with my family.

In March I decided to take a training course in Dyiarbakir, in Turkey, because a guy that I met during a European Management Course suggested that I go there to improve my skills.

So, when I was there, during the Equilitri course, I was not interested in the words that the trainer told us, the participants, and I wanted just to see new places and to know the new culture of the place I was, I liked so much Turkey and I was very glad to be there. But this course turned out to be very important for my way of living.

During the course I learnt to watch inside me, to focus on my goals and to discover what I really want. In  the end I knew that I was not happy because I wanted to teach Italian language to foreign people, but also I wanted to leave to other countries to meet different people and cultures.

When I came back home I started to send my CV to the Universities and Schools abroad to work there as an Italian teacher.

Last week a State High School in Izmir, in Turkey, the land I love so much, called me and offered me a three-year job as an Italian Teacher, immediately I accepted and now I’m going to stay there.

I don’t know if this experience will be good for me, but for sure it’s what I really want to do in my life, so I’m pretty sure it will be a success.”

Here are a few words from the participants:

Liva Mora – Latvia:

“Every step I took along the way completed and summarized everything I had learned before about the essence of life.”

Rogin Matei – Romania :

“The most lively, lovely, energetic & full of knowledge and surprises trip I have ever had in my life.”

Anna Zakrewska -Poland:

“I am very glad that I had a chance to participate in this training. It happened in a moment of my life when it is very useful for me and I will apply what I learned and I hope I can share the knowledge I gained with others”

Isabella Floris – Italia:

“I am very happy that I’ve taken this project because it has been a good opportunity to think, share and compare our life’s experiences.”

Liene Veinberga – Latvia:

“I learned a lot about self-development. This course helped me to understand what I am and what I want from my life.”

Elena Miu – Romania:

“I loved this course because EquiliTRI method will be very useful in my personal and professional life as a tool for personal development.”

Elizabeth Rijo – Italia:

“I think that the course is structured very well and very useful for the young people. This course facilitates the interaction with the others”

Lehel Kelemen – Romania:

“I’ve learned how I can plan my career and what I should do to achieve it. I’ve learned how to work in an international environment, how to be flexible and adapt in different situations”

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This publication reflects only the views of the author and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.