In
the last months, after long reflection, I set some goals to
accomplish in the next years. Due to my recent work in EduCo (BEST Educational
Department), I'm aware that there exists an inconsistency
between the skills that universities are providing and the competencies that
the companies are looking for, also called employability skills. For
these reasons, I would like to dedicate part of my life to finding and
organizing activities that would help to close this gap.
As my university studies aren't directly connected with my goals, I was worried that my degree
wouldn’t give me the needed knowledge. This way, I began to search for
trainings that would help in my mission, by giving me the
confidence and the information that I need to proceed.
In
my research, I found the Salto Youth website with
several training offers. This discovery left me
really excited, however as I was reading the course information, some thoughts
came to my mind, "maybe the training courses are just for trainers".
With nothing to lose, I applied for some courses that were going
to happen between July and September.
After
some answers of "we are sorry but you were not accepted", finally
I received a positive answer in my inbox, saying that I was
accepted in a course in Czech Republic, called "Share the Right
Story". I was really happy, firstly that it would be an opportunity
to learn more about gamification (that was my main goal),
but also about storytelling (the essential structural elements in
a story and how to use it to build bridges between people).
After
being on the course for 2 days, I realized that it wasn't what I was
expecting- it was much better! The participants and the trainers
were awesome, people who were running their own organizations and I was
really inspired. The course, on the other hand, it had a
spiritual approach that I wasn't expecting. Due to that, maybe I didn't
avail of this part as much as the other participants, however it helped
me to clarify my goals and the journey that I intend to follow in the
next months and years.
Now
that the course is finished, I have returned to Portugal a
"richer" person. Not because I have more money, but because
I brought (right in my pocket) a lot of stories and experiences that
were shared with me.
Besides
these aspects, I now feel capable of delivering some short workshops
(with some extra research) about how to use storytelling to connect people and
how to use gamification to learn about a specific topic or to promote an event.
In
the end, I'm just grateful for this opportunity. It's hard
to put into words, but after meeting all these people and hearing their
stories, I feel this strange energy spreading out all over my body and I
can't take the smile off my face.
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| The ecological center of Olomouc (Sluňákov) |
