Hi, everybody! My name is Maria Vittoria, I am 20 years old and I am here to tell you about my first real work experience, which took place at InEuropa.
InEuropa deals with raising awareness of public and private bodies about the policies and programmes of the European Union, through the development of projects at local, national and international level. It focuses on inter-relational exchange, dialogue and listening, creating alternative training paths, aimed at transforming ideas into concrete projects.
I had the good fortune to get to know Ineuropa during the “alternanza scuola-lavoro” course, when I was still in fourth grade. The main task assigned to me was the translation of documents for the “Drop-in” project, aimed at creating innovative pathways for young people who leave school early, so that they can be reintegrated into the social fabric and the labour market. While translating I could not help but notice my growing interest in what was written in the documents, which proved to be a source of information and suggestions for the future of every young person’s academic and work career. My enthusiasm was sky-high when I entered the Ineuropa website and was able to see the complete translations online, available to anyone who needed them.
In summer 2019 I graduated at Liceo Muratori-San Carlo in Modena.
However, as a great lover of culture as a whole, I had the feeling that I was not yet able to understand which of my many interests prevailed over others. That is why I decided to stop for a year and not to attend university right away. Although I made this choice reluctantly, as I write this article I think about how indispensable it was.
In September, after giving a lot of thought to how to invest my “gap year”, I contacted InEuropa and started working with them. So, like when I was in high school, I was mainly involved in translations, but I had the opportunity to carry out new activities and develop further skills and abilities. For example, at the beginning of my work experience, I contributed to the creation and management of content for Ineuropa’s social profiles, giving vent to my imagination and creativity, while learning to use programs, unknown to me at the time, for editing photos and videos. Over time I gained more confidence and was entrusted with more and more challenging tasks, such as online contact search for the “Goals For Good” and “Food Talks” projects; the creation of informative Power Point presentations on some European Union programs, such as “Creative Europe”, “Life” and “Erasmus +”; the production of articles in Italian and English for the company’s website newsletter.
My journey with InEuropa ended recently and if I had to define it with an adjective, I would probably choose “enriching”, as I had the chance to learn a lot within a team that guided me patiently and involved me in every activity from the first day, placing great trust in my abilities, even though I had just graduated, with a fairly meagre work experience. I have also become interested in the functioning, history and current policies of the main international organisations, and I have finally found my way to university, which I can not wait to start! So I want to thank Ineuropa for giving me the opportunity to grow, mature and develop more conviction and confidence in my skills, within an extraordinary working environment.
