Hey! My name is Pernille, 23 years old. I grew up in a small village in the northern part of Norway. I`m taking part in a project called „Volunteers for a Green Future“, and my working place is in a school.
I chose this project because I like working with kids. Also I wanted to see if being a teacher could be something for me in the future. Throughout this year I have challenged myself in many new situations, which has resulted in me learning a lot about myself.
This is my first experience with a Waldorf school and their pedagogy. It’s a quite big difference from what I was used to. I find it really cool and interesting that there are other options for learning than just «read and write». Their educational platform suits me and I have learned a lot about teaching.
Also I met and talked to a lot of teachers, which I really admire. I learned so much of their way of caring for and communication with the kids. How they handle situations, their patience and all the knowledge they have.
Throughout my year I have had two seminars. The first one we could participate physically. We spent a week together, volunteers from other cities. We made contact, learned more about the organization, reflected, heard stories from the others, shared experiences from projects and many evenings with games, fun and talking. For my second seminar it was unfortunately not possible to meet physically, due to corona restrictions, so it was online. Which of course wasn’t as exciting, but they solved it in a good way via zoom. The agenda and the content of the second seminar was the same as the previous, only that it happened through a computer.
And of course one of the many good benefits of working in a school is the long summer vacation I still have until the end of August here in Bremen, and my plan is to take advantage of all the days off. I’m going to enjoy the area around Bremen and see other parts of Germany. I’ve already planned a trip to Berlin with most of the other volunteers, camping youth exchange with my flatmates (and other people), Cologne with a friend and Munich with my family.
So even though working is a big part of my ESC, we got more than enough time to enjoy, try and explore new things.
I’m so happy I took this opportunity, and no doubt I would recommend ESC to everyone. It’s a perfect way to explore and learn new skills/interests or continue to develop your passion, and meet new people.
Pernille