#euforazerbaijan

[youngeuneighbours-blog]

Participating in the ‘EuroVillage’ in Azerbaijan determined Sara Rajabli, Young European Ambassador, to apply for funding to study abroad in Europe. She studied for 6 months in Germany, where she gained invaluable experience thanks to the EU’s support. 🇪🇺  Are you interested in scholarships to study abroad? Check the Erasmus+ website or contact the National Erasmus+ Office in your country!

[youngeuneighbours-blog]

Sara Rajabli, Young European Ambassador from Azerbaijan, participated in many international projects and events and studied abroad for 6 months thanks to the European Union’s support. These experiences allowed her to get inspired to become a global citizen and change-maker! 🌏

[youngeuneighbours-blog]

Sara’s path to becoming a global citizen

Hi! My name is Sara. I am 20 years old, currently studying at the Azerbaijan Tourism and Management University. At the time of my admission, I had no idea I’d have the chance to benefit from so many opportunities.

Since my earlier student years, I have been involved in volunteering activities at international events powered in Baku such the 8th UNESCO Forum and the 2nd Baku International Tourism Film Festival. Everything changed when I was selected for an international intellectual competition in Kyiv, Ukraine. I was among 40 best pupils from Azerbaijan to participate and it was my first chance to gain useful contacts and discover different opportunities and events. My first practical acquaintance with the EU started from volunteering at the “EuroVillage 2014” event organised by the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan. I was responsible for the preparation of Belgium’s stand, providing locals with information about tourism and educational opportunities in the country. This was an invaluable experience as I was able to connect with Belgium’s Embassy, learning new things about the EU and different countries’ cultures along the way. I defined my next goal: to win scholarship to study in Europe.

Our university offers a lot of scholarship exchange programmes. I regularly checked the walls for announcements and found an opportunity to study in Germany for 6 months. What has this programme given to me? First of all, a taste of independence. Being alone, I took responsibility for making decisions and solving problems. I also had to manage my time effectively for all sorts of daily activities, as well as my financial recourses to maintain a healthy yet fun lifestyle. Education in Germany inspired me to research a lot. We organised many projects, inquired about the local tourism market and conducted interviews at Ministries, information centres and shopping malls. I experienced the real student life and became inspired to become an entrepreneur in the future. Additionally, my life in Germany taught me to take risks. If someone had told me that one day I would travel alone across eight European countries with a very limited budget, I wouldn’t have believed it. I challenged myself: during my mini European trip, a lot of things happened to me, both positive and negative, which had a profound impact on me. I now understand the importance of leaving your comfort zone, trusting your own intuition and relying on the kind and friendly people around you. Most importantly, all the stereotypes I had about nations and people were broken completely. When your stereotypes are broken, you become a GLOBAL CITIZEN and a CHANGE MAKER!

After coming back to Azerbaijan, I participated in local projects and obtained scholarships for conferences in various countries. I realised that if I could do it, others could too. I decided to find these people and share their experiences in one platform: Free to Travel. It now connects more than 1300 followers from 45 different countries. I want to inspire youth to make their dreams become a reality. The most important thing is to have a vision and believe in it, whilst being grateful to the people who support you. Success is not only defined by your actions. Success is gratitude to everyone who helped you to overcome obstacles and failures along the way. I am grateful to my family who allowed me to go abroad. Success is just being human!

P.S: if you want to share your story about free travel opportunities, don’t hesitate to contact me. I will do it with great pleasure! 😊

Sara Rajabli

20 years old, Azerbaijan