As we join our European colleagues in celebrating Erasmus+ days we spoke to our Youth Panel Chair, Emile Vedel Blankschon about her Erasmus+ experiences.
“I wanted to really immerse myself in a language that I felt would help me in my career and so I applied for an Erasmus+ internship in Hamburg, Germany in 2017.”
“The company I was placed with was great, but it was hard to meet people there, it was really in the hostel that I lived in that gave me the most amazing experience. It was a mixture of students and refugees and well, we all had breakfast together, so the sensible thing was to start to chat and get to know people! Coming from my home in Denmark it was a real eye opener to meet people from all over the World and with different backgrounds to me. The main thing I learned was not to be shy. It was just great to open up and chat with a live with all sorts of lovely people.”
“Erasmus+ gave me a number of benefits, for sure the main one was the financial support, this meant that I could work at my internship, but didn’t have to find another job (bar work etc) to fund my stay. This meant that I could really avail of the other supports that have Erasmus+ is famous for, the contacts, the language supports and of course the shared coffees with people also on the programmes. It also meant that I could pursue my love of hockey! I joined Club zur Vahr in Bremen and they are now my German hockey family. The first year was tough as I took the train twice during the week to train, but had to do the running sessions on my own!”
“After my thesis I returned for another Erasmus+ programme, again in Bremen. I’m really delighted to be working in my chosen profession (Sales and Marketing) and I have now graduated with a C2 qualification in German (this is considered fluent). Again the Erasmus+ programme has again given me the wonderful opportunities, this time the financial support has meant that I didn’t need to stress over the costs of returning to Denmark for national team training!”
“All of the experiences that have had have really led me to my role as Chair of the EHF’s Youth Panel. In 2017 I attended the EHF’s Youth leadership festival and honestly, I was hooked! Being the Chair is a real honour as we have a great group. We really are excited to announce the Press Play theme for the 2021 EHF Youth Leadership Festival. Life and hockey in particular has been on pause for so long, it will be wonderful to gather with the youth leaders from all over Europe and share our knowledge, get involved in the workshops and make sure to NOT BE SHY about meeting and connecting with eachother so that we can lead hockey into the future.”
For more information on Erasmus+ click here
To learn how to sign up for the EHF Youth Leadership Festival – click here