Tamara in Bremen // 2nd Report

This is already the seventh month of my volunteering, and I can’t believe that time has flown this fast. Seven months of experiences, ups and downs, adventures, lonely days, challenges and feelings of happiness. One can think “Yeah it’s just seven months” but for me as a person who has experienced this time, it was life-changing.

I will start with my ups and downs, and then I’ll mention some barriers and disappointments I overcame during this time. Of course, life cannot go only with a white line. However, I really appreciate every single challenge I faced, as their overcoming process also has an influence on my personal growth.

To begin with, during this time I had a very weird feeling of loneliness, even though I was surrounded by many people, with friends and colleagues, I felt like something was missing in my life.

Simultaneously with this, I had a feeling that I am getting stuck in my work, because of the same work routine.

After several “hard-going” weeks I started to think about my current situation, why am I here, what am I doing and what are my goals for the future. I searched and found the answers to all these questions in my head. And I realized that if I want to change something in my environment I need to change it in myself first. I evolved this idea and got to a point where I started to realize that I need a new motivation. Now I have a project which motivates me a lot, I am going to organize a workshop, in my workplace and in the youth center.

Aside from that, I went to my midterm training which brought another positive vibe to me. As I met new people, explored Hamburg, and gained some more information about my opportunities after my volunteering project.

People that I met during the training shared their stories and it turned out we are kind of on some page with these temporary ups and downs, and I realized that it’s a natural phenomenon that everyone experiences during their volunteering program. But the most important thing is to realize them and try to find a solution instead of blaming others.

So these three months were really life-changing. Now I’m too busy to get bored, I’m trying to spend every day as productive as I can, in order to have the best memories from my volunteering project. I truly cherish these upcoming last three months. Now I feel more relaxed and chilled, I really love Bremen and I want to enjoy its amazing summer, the picturesque nature and spend time with my friends.

To summarize, I love the way I am living now, and I appreciate the challenges I faced and overcame and I feel leveled up. And I would finish with a good note. I’m looking forward to my next three months here in Bremen, as I’m sure better days are coming.

Tamara is hosted by Freie Waldorfschule Bremen on our project financed by the European Solidarity Corps and Jugend für Europa.