I wanted to realize my Erasmus dreams when I achieved a good 3.73/4 GPA in the first year of my university life, but I couldn't get enough marks in the English proficiency exam I took that year. In fact, all my next overseas stories started after my failure in that exam.

That year, I wanted to do something and I believed that if I tried, I would succeed. For this reason, I learned that there is such a thing as the European Voluntary Service during my research and my application for a project in Romania was accepted. Shortly after this acceptance news, I had the chance to attend the "Democracy and me" conference, which will be held in the framework of the European Youth Week events that year in the European Parliament in Belgium. It was an incredible feeling to represent my country and the youth of Europe sitting in the seats of the European Parliament. After the experience I got there, I became a braver person. Although this may seem like such a simple story, the background of the journey was very different.

On my journey from Ankara to Brussels, the first flight would be Ankara-Dalaman and after a one-day wait, Dalaman-Brussels. I met wonderful people in Dalaman. I was a solo young traveler on my trip to Brussels. 19 years old, first overseas experience... A Turkish family I met during passport control helped me so much that I learned that sooner or later good things will happen to those who set out with courage.

As a result of all these things, I can say that I have become addicted to discovery. You can access detailed information about the event I attended from the platform of the European Union: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_19_2255