Deya Doneva

Play the Way was an Erasmus + youth exchange that took place on 11-21 February 2022 in Chata Doubravka, Czech Republic. Imagine 50 young people from 10 European countries sharing a not-so-spacious hut deep in the woods, far from the outside world - it’s a recipe for interdependence, for drama, for intimacy, for conflict, for friendship. Most of all, it’s a recipe for growth. The program was quite packed with activities from early morning until late evening. This gave the group a chance to experience so much in such a short time and thus build an unusually strong connection. We had to complete a variety of outdoor quests that required creativity and teamwork - like standing on top of each other in order to reach an instruction high on a tree, performing a song together and improvising a music video on the spot or building moving vehicles out of our bodies and racing each other. We had tons of fun. However, we had opportunities for deep introspection as well. Each of us got to write the 10 things that constitute their self-definition and then find others who share things in common with them, we each had 2 minutes in the “Limelight” to tell everyone “what drives us in life” and finally each of us created a vision board for their dream life. The activities helped us approach those big questions from different perspectives and get more specific about our goals in life. Moreover, the support groups we attended daily assisted us in reflecting on and verbalising what we experienced, thus bringing it on a conscious level. Overall I would say that a youth exchange is one of the best ways to learn tons while also having fun and forming meaningful connections with people.

Ina Angelova

Play The Way! was a project„ focused on the labour market and how to find a work which is meaningful and enjoyable“ but it turned out to be so much more for me. Learning through experience is the most amazing thing. I learned so much for such a short period of time and I'm so amazed at the fact that I grew so much as a person. This project helped me realise so much about myself and the world. It helped me notice things that I didn't see before. Play The Way! is a memory that won't stay only in my mind, it will stay in my heart forever. The people will stay in my heart even for longer. You get so close with so many people for just 10 days and when the days pass, you realise how fast time flies and how you just wish you could have more time or you could time travel. All the moments I shared with some of these people are so beautiful. All the friendships that I made are some of the purest that I'll ever have.

The first day was about getting to know each other. On the second one, I learned what is actually active listening and how I can use it in my life.

On the third day, I learned so much about the labour market. I learned about the V-A chart and I realised some things about myself with it. I also learned how to write a good CV.

On the fourth day, I learned about visualisation and reality. This is something that helped me so much not only during the project but even now. On this day we all got divided into different teams and we all got together and organised activities on a certain subject. This was truly one of the most amazing things that I learned during this project- working in a team. It's so wonderful how from nothing, you get together gather all of your ideas and you create something big. On the fifth-day people started presenting their activities, we continued with the activities till day eight. I learned so much from each activity and most importantly each activity helped me find things that i should try to improve myself on.

On the eighth day after lunch, we all had to write, do or show something that answers the question „What drives me in life?“. It was so beautiful listening and seeing everyone showing a bit of their worlds to us.

The ninth day was about saying goodbye.

I'm so thankful for being able to participate in such an inspiring and exciting project like this one! I'll never forget what i learned and what i felt! Even though it's hard to say goodbye everything must come to an end and something will always stay with us- the memories.

Andon Popovski

Going to this Erasmus was a very interesting experience for me. I didn’t think it was gonna be so uplifting. The games were so interesting and made us think in a way to actually use our creativity. One of the favourite things we did was the V-A chart. It really did show us how to think in a way we actually but now in order. Also, the games where we had to use our creativity to make up something out of nothing was challenging yet fun. Also, the part where we had to make up our own games I say was the best. Working as a team to achieve a goal was amazing. To sum it up all the games were super effective and with learning all those things I feel better and wiser about going into the labour market and using my potential.

Zhulieta

This was my first project as a Group leader, and as such, my learning was a little different than the one in previous projects, where I was only a participant. I took part in the previous project Play the Way!, which was a training course, and it served the purpose of preparing me for a group leader position in this one.
In this youth exchange, I had the opportunity to learn a lot about leadership, facilitation, and myself.
I learned that being a group leader can be a big challenge, and a big responsibility, but it also opens a door of possibilities if you let it. I had the chance to encourage, support and help participants when they were nervous, unsure or had questions; I did my best to lead by example and to keep my promises; I was a part of the group, but also a part of the facilitator's team.
A few days before the project had started, I was asked if I could facilitate an activity about Youthpass on Day 1. I agreed to it, but I instantly felt nervous and scared to do this activity on the first day of the project. When the day came, I was even more nervous – what if I fail, what if they don’t get anything out of the game, how should I lead the reflection – are just a few of the hurricanes of questions in my head. And so, the game began and ended – and I did make some mistakes. For example, there were papers with the 8 competencies, spread around in the playing area, but I hadn’t left much space between the 4 of them, so they were very close together, causing a cluster of people. Another example, there was a list of activities on each competence, which players had to do as a team, however, I hadn’t read all the activities beforehand, so I wasn’t prepared for some of them (to print a handout with a mathematical equation). But now that I had done the activity, and spotted the mistakes, I could learn from them.
And the next two games that I facilitated went more smoothly – I was calmer, had more confidence, and listened, really listened to the group. I did more mistakes, don’t get me wrong, but I tried to deal with them on the spot and improvise. I found the facilitation of games very empowering and satisfactory.
Something else that was a learning experience for me, was an activity that we did, called Vision Board. It was an individual activity, where each of us wrote down 3 visions we have in life, 3 almost impossible things that we want to achieve. Then we wrote 5 actions for each vision, which we can do in our daily lives, to get closer to the goal. Here, what really helped us in the process, was the tool Circle of Creativity. Then we created collages to visualize our visions and dreams in life. This activity reminded me of what my priorities in my life are and helped me realize that I am somewhat already working for what matters for me in life, but there is certainly a lot more I could do.
I am very grateful for the opportunity to take part in yet another beautiful project by INspire, funded by Erasmus+.

These stories were written by the Bulgarian participants who took part in the Youth Exchange "Play the Way" hosted and coordinated by "Czech Inspire".

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