My EVS
Have you ever felt a panic attack before making big decisions in your life? Stunned by all the choices that you have?
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I feel I could write a book about my EVS-year. About all the new things I’ve learned, about all the places I’ve visited, about everything I’ve learned at work, about everything I’ve learned about myself and about all the amazing people I got to know. But I will give you some insights into the challenges and the way I coped with them.
Have you ever felt a panic attack before making big decisions in your life? Stunned by all the choices that you have?
I didn’t know for sure what I wanted to do next with my life. I was quite confused but at least I had some ideas. It was after getting my Bachelor’s degree in chemistry. A point in my life when I wanted to have a break - break from studies, learning and work. I needed a change from doing a lot of “have to do” things into doing something that I really wanted and had a desire for. And I had some decisions to make as well.
So I joined EVS - in Germany working in a school and institute for mentally disabled people - children and grownups. I feel I could write a book about my EVS-year. About all the new things I’ve learned, about all the places I’ve visited, about everything I’ve learned at work, about everything I’ve learned about myself and about all the amazing people I got to know. But I will give you some insights into the challenges and the way I coped with them.
CHALLENGE NR. 1. Language
My advantage was that I could speak German quite well already but I’m the kind of person who needs explanations and communication as much as water. So I was asking a lot of questions, stammering and searching for words. I was trying to understand what people were talking about around me, trying to keep up with the tremendous speed they were talking and thinking (or so it seemed at the time). Now I speak quite fluently and can even have discussions about themes that I’d never heard of before my EVS.
Understanding. Of course I was ready that people would not always understand me, because German is still a difficult language for me. My accent and my disability to pronounce some letters (my beloved ä ö ü) correctly is sometimes just killing me. I’m usually having a lot - A LOT - of patience and I stay calm while explaining or pronouncing something several times. And most of the time I have fun doing that, or I feel really proud that I can explain something so well. But sometimes it drives me crazy trying to pronounce words over and over, and OVER again!
CHALLENGE NR. 2. Culture
Germans are well known for their order and punctuality. A big challenge for me because I enjoy freedom, small doses of chaos and staying up late at night. It was almost a mission impossible. As I soon found out, my EVS project was one of the best opportunities to improve these skills. I had to be at work at 8.30 or even at 7.00 a.m.!!!!! That was mean, really mean... Sometimes I could manage it pretty well but at times even putting my alarm clock in the other corner of the room, or setting it 3 or 5 times could not get me out of the bed on time. But I discovered that I could go really fast - almost fly when I was late.
Punctuality. Imagine the situation. After some days of struggling with punctuality I had at last managed to be on time - to be somewhere at 8.00 a.m. sharp - feeling all happy and proud of myself. But, unbelievably, I was late again, because other colleagues had decided “Since we are all here already (at 7.55 a.m.) let’s start !!!” So maybe you can understand me if I try to be on time, because it’s something essential for work, my colleagues and friends but I still enjoy it so much being a little bit late for something.
CHALLENGE NR. 3. Work with mentally disabled people
It was something that I had always been curious about. I had worked with kids before, but I had never had any contact with disabled people or people with mental disabilities. But once again I had a desire to try. At the beginning I was really scared. I had no idea how to talk to these people (in German!), how to act and react. Now I am able to help them, talk to them, somehow understand them and I really care for them.
In a lot of cases working with disabled people involves doing everything for them – dressing up, brushing teeth, eating with them, changing diapers and a lot of other daily activities. Plenty of things I had to learn and accept. And, believe it or not, I’m a living proof of that it’s possible! I still love a phrase that my friend once said when we were talking about changing diapers: “It wasn’t easy for me either but I got used to it, and now I change diapers as if they were socks.” There are countless other stories and jokes about our work, but I believe only people who are doing something similar would understand them truly.
CHALLENGE NR. 4. Decisions
I know some of you would agree that sometimes EVS felt like a vacation. Vacation for a year. And really often the decisions that were made during this year were not the cleverest, but the most enjoyable. Sometimes there were questions: “Spend money on something useful or go to a party (AGAIN!)? Go to sleep early or have a great time with friends?” Guess what was my choice most of the time? Maybe it’s nothing new for some of you but so many people who have known me back at home would never believe that I’m the person writing this.
Decision of the year. As I mentioned before, I had some decisions to make during this year. The toughest one of all was to answer the question, what I wanted to do next with my life. At one point I even thought of giving up my dream to be a clever scientist and rather start working in the social sector. (There you have to know that I’m the kind of person who is sometimes willing to try all kind of jobs, even if it’s only for a day or a few weeks).
And now I have made my decision. Now I know that I really want to continue my studies in chemistry. I have no idea how it will turn out, or for how long I will actually enjoy being a scientist or if I’ll change my mind in a year but I know, I’m completely certain that I can do it, and that I can cope with different outcomes. And this kind of strength and way of thinking is the result of my EVS-year.
I would definitely advise anyone to go on EVS because it doesn’t really matter what your project is, or in which country you are. What matters is what you do with what you have.