Another Youth Exchange Implemented in Graz, Austria – “Breaking the glass ceiling through media and social media” is our new story.

And this is a short recap on what we did during these 7 days:

Although we were welcomed by rain in Graz, it decided not to visit us for a while, and that’s how our sunny days began in this literally breathtaking city.

Slowly but surely, we all arrived at the accommodation where we were tired but excited for tomorrow when we were all going to meet.

The first day was all about team building and exploring the city, with the added mission impossible called “Trying to remember everyone’s names”. We still strongly believe that the organizers’ idea of team building was “people that work together bond better”.

On the second day we started talking about the glass ceiling and how to break it. Gender stereotypes, corporate life, discrimination and double standards were all topics of discussion that made us think more about what we can do to fix them.

Everyday we started with a quick energizer, either in the park or at the hostel. We were always divided into different teams to get to know each other better and we improved our skills while having fun and connecting physically and mentally to each other.

After immersing ourselves into the topic, we started working on our presentation skills so that we could share our knowledge with our peers back home. We learned about how we can use the internet to our advantage and we worked together in our national teams to create our presentations. This was followed by “community day” where we were again tasked with a little treasure hunt in the city. We all enjoyed Graz’s baroque architecture combined with modern takes on some buildings.

All in all, not even the heat stopped us from learning, exiting our comfort zone, meeting new people, and experiencing Graz and Austria in the best way possible.

“This project has been a good way to explore the topics of gender and social media, it’s so good that we raised awareness among people in our communities and I could say that we literally “broke the glass ceiling” while also having lots of fun. I didn’t have many expectations from this week but yet the other participants and the facilitators made it to be everything I never thought I needed.

 

So far, I’m satisfied with the organisation and the accommodation, Graz was an amazing city to go sightseeing. Also, I made some friendships that I hope will last even further than this week and maybe we’ll meet each other in future project or just go to each other’s countries and discover new horizons. This is my second project and it made me love Erasmus+ youth exchanges even more than before, they make me want to keep continuing this lifestyle where I constantly work with people from other cultures.”

Daniel – Romania

“This is my fourth project, I am glad to have met people from different countries and cultures. The experience was amazing and I learned a lot of new things related to the topic.”

Angelche Petrushevski – Macedonia

“This was my first experience in an Erasmus Project and, although with its ups and downs, it has been really positive. I have had the chance to share my culture and point of view with people that may have entirely different perspectives and learn from them as well.

The topic of the glass ceiling and gender equality were really interesting and necessary in the modern times. I am surely going to remember this project.”

Sara – Spain