By Besa Bisha

I believe you have already heard of countless stories centered on the theme  ‘being in the wrong place at the wrong time’. Well, this is not of them. On the contrary, this is a story about being in the right place at the right time 🙂

My name is Besa, and a year ago doing an ESC project was not on my to-do list. At the time I was living in Tirana, the city where I was born and raised, and working from home -in other words I was somehow stuck in my comfort zone. But all that changed in the blink of an eye when one morning, as I was performing my daily ritual of scrolling on Instagram, I saw the story posted by SCI Catalunya. They were looking for 2 volunteers who would be their Placement Officers in Barcelona for the duration of one year. Let me reiterate it so that you can grasp the level of my excitement: The organization(SCI) I had volunteered for in 3 workcamps previously (from each of which I had great memories) was looking for long-term volunteers in the city of my dreams. That news was all I needed to start daydreaming instantly, but I also had to warn myself  to not let my hopes up before asking about all the details and prerequisites. Soon after I was made aware that this kind of project was offered only to people under 30 years old. Thus, inside the head of the then 29 year old me started playing the “It’s now or never” song.

I chose to go with “It’s now” and I sent the application. Since I did not receive any answers even a month later I tried to convince myself that “some things are just meant to be dreamt of and not lived…”.  Thankfully, this was not the case. I received the acceptance email when I had completely forgotten about my application. I had a few months to prepare everything and the first week of October 2024 I started my adventure.

I was very lucky to be part of an office where I encountered a supportive environment and a very healthy work culture. My supervisor made everything go smoothly with her wit, warmth and lovely demeanor. Slowly I started to build my new routine in the city that offers endless opportunities for a rich cultural life.

I was also aware that having friends and people you can count on around you makes a tremendous difference on your quality of life, especially in a new country, so I made an effort to socialize even though as an introvert that is not my strongest point. And of course it paid off. Every day that passed I was grateful for the memories I was creating knowing that I was privileged to be part of that transformative experience. The ESC was the perfect final stone to end my 20’s era and here I am now , a 30 year old, still trying to figure out life but with more confidence and always open to new opportunities for growth.