Dzień dobry everyone! My name is Maël, I'm 20 years old, and I come from France. I'm currently studying Earth Science with the hope of one day becoming an agronomic engineer. But outside of studying, sport has always been at the centre of my life. For me it's never just been about physical fitness; it's a way to clear my head, stay grounded, and connect with people. Through sport I've met some of the best people I know, learned how to handle failure, and pushed myself further than I thought I could go. It's shaped a big part of who I am.
For a long time I knew I wanted a gap year. Not to do nothing, but to pause, breathe, and experience something completely outside my usual routine. I wanted to travel, discover new cultures, and live through something that would genuinely challenge me, without burning through my savings in the process.
The only problem was I didn't know where to start. I wanted to go everywhere at once, so I did what any overly organised person would do: I made an Excel sheet listing every country I dreamed of visiting and every kind of activity I wanted to try. It didn't help much. The more I researched, the harder the choice became.
Then one day I walked into the House of Europe in my city, Nantes, and met a volunteer who told me about the European Solidarity Corps. He explained how it works, the chance to volunteer abroad, meet people from across Europe, develop real skills, and do it all with financial support in place. Something about it made immediate sense to me. This was exactly what I had been circling around without knowing it.
The ESC project I found offered everything I was looking for: a chance to learn more about myself, to meet people who share my interest in photography and videography, and to grow in an international environment where I could both express myself and learn from others.
Poland felt like the right choice for reasons that go beyond the practical. I wanted a real change of perspective, not just a change of scenery. I wanted to meet people who think differently, live differently, and see the world through a different lens. One of my personal goals is to genuinely improve my English, not just for a CV but as a tool for connecting with people from all over the world. More than that though, I want to come out of this experience more open, more adaptable, and more confident in expressing who I am.
This volunteering experience is already teaching me things that no classroom has. How to listen properly. How to adapt. How to see familiar situations from angles I'd never considered before.
By the end of it, I'm not just hoping to come home with good memories. I'm hoping to come home a different version of myself.