Internship in Zagreb, Croatia

Eglė Juozapavičiūtė

After finishing Catholic Theology bachelor degree, I have decided to do Erasmus Internship for the third time. I became a member of Student‘s Catholic Centre team in Zagreb, Croatia and I have stayed there for 4 months.

Hosting organization’s main responsibility is Catholic faith and knowledge formation among the university students. Therefore, my tasks during the mobility were preparing and implementing student summer camps and later providing assistance in the process of summer programs strategy improvement. In other words, most of July and August I have spent experiencing Croatian student’s summer camps and the rest of September and October I assisted in office work tasks, such as writing EU projects, coordinating volunteer groups.  

Although all the Erasmus+ Internship gave me valuable and useful experience professionally and personally, but participating in summer camps left the one of the biggest impact in whole life. It was a unique opportunity to experience simple and adventurous life by carrying only things that I had in my backpack, sleeping in tents and sleeping bags, living without electricity, showering only in the sea, washing dishes with ground, meeting hundreds of people and hearing their life stories. While travelling around, I had a chance to discover how Catholic teaching formation is adapted to Croatian culture and it brought new understanding and open new horizons in my mind. While giving valuable asset for hosting organizations summer camp teams, I have discovered my great ability to adapt to new circumstances and to get the best from every experience. As well, I have realized how great I feel working in international offices, discovered my great strengths and weaknesses and have a more clear vision regarding the future work.

Finally, in the end of mobility I received a job offer from a partner of hosting organization to work as a network manager in Split, Croatia. I took a decision to accept this offer and in this way to begin the new page in my life. I cannot be more grateful for this mobility experience, because if it has not been for Erasmus+ Internship, I would not be here where I am today. Therefore, I encourage everyone to use this great opportunity either studying or practicing abroad, and who knows how your life might be changed!