My first solo errand in Poland nearly broke me. I put down my luggage, walked into a shop to grab something to eat, and spent the next few minutes completely lost. Then I stepped outside and every car at the crosswalk stopped for me without hesitation. I stood in front of Kwiatomat – a flower vending machine, a thing I had never seen in my life – and felt like I had wandered into a stranger, more charming version of reality.
My name is Alexa, I'm a volunteer from Hungary, and this is the story of my year in Poland.
I had actually been to Rzeszów once before, in 2023, for a VET project with friends. We spent two weeks there – a solid programme packed with history, city visits and structured activities. Valuable, yes, but two weeks keeps you at arm's length. There's no time to slow down, no room to actually connect with people or a place. That gap is what brought me back, and this time I stayed for a year.
Before the volunteering officially began, I spent three weeks in Krosno. It was quiet, green and unhurried – a side of Poland that felt close to the ground. I met good people there and got a gentler introduction to the culture than a big city would have given me.
Then came Rzeszów. Locals will tell you it's a small city. Coming from a town of 27,000 people in Hungary, I can tell you it is not. Rzeszów's population is roughly comparable to the second-largest city in my country.
For the first few weeks, the density of options felt slightly overwhelming – but that feeling faded and what replaced it was something closer to excitement. Everything was reachable. Opportunities kept appearing. I built a life there, made real friends, and used the city as a base to travel across Poland to places I'd always wanted to see.
The volunteering itself was built around schools. Together with the other volunteers, we visited schools across the Podkarpackie region, talking about our countries, running games and activities, and having the kind of conversations that surprised us as much as the students. I had never thought of myself as someone particularly comfortable with children. A year of school visits changed that gradually and without me noticing.
Beyond the schools, we represented INPRO, our countries and the European Union at various events throughout the year. The programme ran across a wide range – short-term volunteering, internships, training courses, Erasmus+ VET projects and youth exchanges. Behind each of those were hours of preparation: workshop materials, presentations, activity sheets, research. I also managed the INPRO website and wrote the blog, including this post.
Looking back, the year was a lot of things at once – exhausting and energising, disorienting and clarifying. I'm glad I took the step. The opportunities, the people, the places – I'm grateful for all of it. If you're considering volunteering and wondering whether it's worth it: it changed my life for the better, and I'd do it again.
Nem a viszontlátásra, csak a legközelebbi találkozásig.
With love from Hungary, Alexa