Simona Yordanova: Having the courage to live is the key to happiness

Hello! My name is Simona Yordanova, 21 years old from Parvomay. I am a student at the University of Economics – Varna, studying Digital media and PR. My favorite activities are drawing and reading books. I love traveling and getting to know new worlds and cultures. Also to indulge in a walk in nature exploring wonderful places. I spend my free time with friends in walks, watching movies, playing games and all kinds of entertainment.

Have you volunteered before? What motivated you to apply for this project?

I have never volunteered for a project like this before. I was lucky to be part of the Association “FOR YOU” team, which gave me the opportunity not only to develop in my field, but also to meet extremely interesting people from different parts of Europe.

I wanted to gain experience in my specialty – social media maintenance. Besides my university requiring an internship, I myself wanted to have valuable knowledge that would be useful for my future career.

Tell us about your experience as a volunteer – what were your main tasks, what did you learn about yourself, what new skills did you develop, how did volunteering change you?

As a volunteer, my main tasks were to maintain the social media of the association and its workshop for disadvantaged people – Place “FOR YOU”. I learned about myself that I can handle many tasks in a short time, I know how to work with different people, I am patient and I manage to cope under pressure. I’m generally quite shy, but thanks to my work, the opportunity to work on different projects and communicate with different people both at my country and abroad, certainly managed to break me and helped me to be a lot more confident in myself.

What challenges did you face during the project?

The main challenge was managing to complete my assignments on time, but at the same time not falling behind in my university. I have certainly improved my time management.

What is your favorite moment of volunteering?

It’s meeting new people, seeing new cultures and also when I’m in Place “FOR YOU”, I love how there are people who bring fun and enjoyment through art to disadvantaged people. This gives you satisfaction: to have done something good today, namely, to have made a person smile.

What would you say to young people to motivate them to volunteer?

Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone because anything beyond it is one of the best things that can happen to you. Although it is scary, the opportunity to meet new people, to try, to search, to find, builds a larger world view of life. It is our memories of adventures and trials that remain with us after time, so live now. Then you will have years in which you will work or rest. Having the courage to live is the key to happiness.

What awaits you after the end of the project? What do you have planned for the future?

After the end of the project, I plan to stay at work in Association “FOR YOU”. I think I still have a lot to learn, both career-wise and personally. I believe that they can provide me with many opportunities to learn about myself and the world.

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