Not Just a Volunteer Gig: ESC Experience in Trnava
Youth for Equality, European Mobility Week 2026, Trnava, Slovakia
Sekar Hidayati
Honestly, when I signed up for this ESC project, I thought it was just going to be another mobility campaign and stands, presentations, like the usual. But it turns out I learned way more than I expected, and not just about sustainable mobility.
One of the coolest parts was setting up a stand right in the middle of the city for a local festival. We built a bunch of games so people could actually have fun while learning about mobility and sustainability. Random people would just walk by, get curious, stop to play, and end up genuinely interested. Seeing that happen in real time, one of the best feelings during this project. We also ran workshops at local schools, with a short presentation plus games so the students wouldn’t get bored halfway through. Turns out talking to the kids is a completely different skill than talking to adults at a festival stand.
Between the stands and the workshops, there was still so much going on. We went hiking together as a group, took a day trip to Bratislava, explored Trnava on a city tour, had a cultural night where everyone shared a bit of their own country, cooked meals together, joined an English speaking club, and did team building activities that honestly ended up being some of the funniest, most bonding moments of the whole project. I think it’s because of my time at university, where I’d already gotten used to working with people from totally different cultures and backgrounds, and learned to actually respect those differences. That made it so much easier to just go with the flow here.
In the end, this project reminded me that ESC volunteering is never really just about the tasks on the schedule. It’s about showing up every day for something bigger than yourself, working alongside people who see the world differently than you do and realizing that’s exactly what makes it worth it.
