Radio interview for L'instant jeunes
Dear reader,
Ahoj! It’s me Tereza. Do you remember me? I know it’s been a while. If you don’t know me or remember me then let me introduce myself again.
So you know that my name is Tereza. I’m at this moment 25 years old. I was born and raised in Czech Republic. Do you know anything about my country? If not, uncle Google tells you more. If yes then you know that English is not my mother tongue, please excuse me if I make grammatical mistakes.
I think I will give you a brief background. So I’ve always wanted to travel around the world and help people. During my life I went through a couple of challenges which were shaping the person who is writing this. I grew up in a small village in a house in Czech we say ,,kde lišky dávají dobrou noc’’ the English translation to this is « where foxes are giving goodnight’’ so basically in the middle of nowhere. I had to travel to school (both elementary and secondary). I have been working part time since the age of 16. So I missed my teens by working. After High School I went to University where I joined ESN (Erasmus Student Network).
I dropped my studies twice. The last time was during the first lockdown. I’ve been in a bad state of mind for a while.
There is a quote written by Alexander Den Heijer which kinda motivated me to do what I did next and it goes “When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.” Means or that’s how I understood it. When you’re not happy somewhere then maybe it’s not you but the place, people who are surrounding you. Of course you have to work on yourself on your traumas.
One day I found a project in Germany. Applied and spent an amazing year in Düsseldorf as a volunteer of the European Solidarity Corps. It was the beginning of an amazing journey to finding myself. When my project ended, in September 2021, I wasn’t ready to return back home. I was craving for more. Once you start pushing yourself out of the comfort zone, crossing limits there is no turning point. You want to learn, see, get to know more.
I found a project in France with the help of Parcours le Monde Grand Ouest and came in the middle of October. So that is how I ended up here as a Service Civique volunteer. Why your and another two schools? Well originally I applied for a project in Nantes but the spot was taken by someone else. But thanks to my experiences I was invited to an interview and agreed to come to Laval. Beginning was, let’s say, challenging. Imagine yourself coming alone to foreign country without knowledge of language. You don’t know where you’re going to live, in what kind of work space, you don’t know all of your responsibilities. Isn’t it a bit terrifying?
Couple of months ago I heard something that had a big impact on me. It’s something that with age I’m becoming more and more aware of and it is scary but sooo true ‘’we are here for such a short period of time. All of us are gonna die one day and before we know it, our life is gonna be over.’’ So let’s enjoy the present moment! ‘’Because we think that everything is gonna always be the same way, our family members are gonna always be with us, we think that we’re always going to have stuff…but the true is…if we live everyday as if like it’s our last then we’re really present to the moment and enjoy the journey.’’ And that’s what I have done for the past months. I’ve been assisting on more than 80 English lessons, educate pupil on my country so I hope I wouldn’t hear ‘’how’s the life in Czechoslovakia’’ anymore (we’re independent country since 1st January 1993), I baked christmas cookies with couple of students at Lycée Robert Buron, created various workshops (for example about Harassment; Autism; Children on move – refugee, migrants and many more), helped with gardening on your school, you could see me in CDI I was able to join Manga club. And here I’d like to thank Mme.Maheux. She’s an amazing human being, one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. I’m grateful that I had the opportunity to be with her in the library.
I was traveling quite a lot. Visited many places not just in France but I went to Belgium and Germany too. Some alone, some with my friends and others with my schools (Mont Saint Michel with students from Poland and Finland or Saint Malo with students from Poland, Finland and Romania etc.)
As my personal project I organized a meeting for Eco Delégue clubs from Lycée Ambroise Paré, Lycée Robert Buron and AgriCampus. The aim of this meeting was to share knowledge and start cooperation between all schools. I hope this project will continue next school year.
I learnt so much, not just about french culture, school system or cuisine. But also about the world. I met, now I’m not joking, hundreds of people from children to college students to retirees with different backgrounds, views on life, experience, education,career path etc. Every single of them had a unique story to tell. I firmly believe that yours is also unique. Sometimes just one sentence, one word can save someone’s life. So share it because you never know whose life you could change.
Oh and I gave a radio interview! Feel free to listen to it.
What, I feel, is most important. I showed myself how strong I am, what I am capable of, I’ve been constantly getting myself out of my comfort zone #seekdiscomfort. What once was hard, became easy. Stand up in front of students and give a presentation? No problem anymore. My first lesson I was shaking, super nervous, almost threw up how sick I felt. Now? I love it. So don’t underestimate yourself! You don’t know what you are capable of until you really try it. Don’t believe every of your thoughts which pop up in your head. By the way did you know that ‘’we think somewhere between 60,000 to 70,000 thoughts in one day’’.. 90 percent of those thoughts are exactly the same ones we had the day before. And the same thoughts always lead to the same choices, same choices lead to the same behavior and the same behaviors lead to same experiences and the same experiences produce the same emotions and these emotions drive the very same thoughts. That’s why it’s important to do/learn something new every single day. And remember ‘’You cannot change your past, but you can ruin the present by worrying about your future. Learn from the past, plan for the future. The more you live in and enjoy the present moment, the happier you will be’’.
Last but not least. Well words cannot describe how grateful I am. But I’d like to thank the school, Lycée Ambroise Paré, for the opportunity to be here, every teacher and student for patience with me and Mr. Delhommeau for being an amazing mentor for me.
Best regards,
Tereza
PS: Love yourself unconditionally just as you love those closest to you despite their faults. Your life matters!