Make Rural Areas Great Again

We are writing this article as we took part in a unique project, namely “DEFRY – Digital Entrepreneurship For Rural Youth”. With this in mind, we gathered in a simple, yet picturesque village, which became our home for 10 days. At first, we didn’t know where this project was heading, but, as time went by, we learned, we grew and we created memories together, living for the nights we won’t remember spent with people we won’t ever forget. 

I don’t think that any of us predicted these bonds to be this strong and to widen our knowledge horizons this far, but indeed did we expect to find people who shared our life perspectives, strengths, and fears. Apart from this, our participants were looking forward to trying traditional Romanian foods and learning new information about the rural youth – and we are glad to affirm that their expectations were met.

Furthermore, not only did we learn how to use various digital tools, such as Canva, WordPress, and many others, but also did we discover basic entrepreneurship concepts. These include the difference between mission and vision, how to improve our communication skills, and the steps of building a business. During all this time, we developed both our soft and hard skills. Moreover, we deepened our knowledge about our society and we learned more about other cultures. In this regard, we brought traditional foods from our countries and we tasted them, sharing an infinitesimal part of our culture.

We leave this project behind with unbelievable memories and the thought that we manage to create a safe place that let us communicate our ideas freely. Erasmus+ is an environment where everyone can be themselves, changing lives and opening minds. All in all, it’s incredible that Erasmus+ projects have the power to combine the context of meeting youngsters and youth workers from all around Europe. We were just playing with concepts, and the next thing we knew was that we were feeling our best educating ourselves on different topics and cultures, gaining knowledge, and developing both our hard and soft skills. Henceforth, we understood that, if you are happy, then you are on the right path and we are more than grateful that our lives crossed in such an environment.

After 10 full, tiring but exquisite days, our project came to its unavoidable final. We are mournful about its ending, especially since goodbyes are bittersweet. During the entirety of the project, we pushed our limits just so that we could learn them quickly, and now, we are one step closer to becoming our best selves. We would advise each of you to take part in at least one Erasmus+ project. Peer-to-peer learning is a shocking way to discover more about your strengths, your culture, and yourself. In the end, you realize that this experience is one of a kind. We wish all of you could proudly say one day “Once Erasmus, always Erasmus!”, because this is the fair truth.