Erasmus Student Network (ESN) is an international student organization. Currently, there are more than 13 500 students in 526 local sections in 40 countries doing their volunteering job there. But what actually makes them join it? I will try to answer this question sharing my point of view.

First of all, my studies are not enough for me. I was just bored with attending my classes and studying. I wanted to do something more. Apart from that, we just gain some theoretical skills while studying, whereas, we can acquire some practical ones while volunteering in ESN which may turn out to be invaluable in our future life. One of those is teamwork. It is a vital thing in ESN. We would not be able to organise any events if we did not cooperate effectively in a team. Precisely event organisation is the next thing which made me join ESN. It is because they are very often organised and, as a result, it is possible to become better and better at it, learn from our mistakes and draw conclusions. Except from that I can improve my time management skills as I need to combine my studies with volunteering in ESN. Also, we can learn responsibility there as we have some tasks to do. However, I would like to point out that if something goes wrong, no one will be shouting at us and we can always ask someone to help us so that the situation could be improved. It is important to inform about it early enough though. It is also a part of teamwork. In this way we also learn how to solve some problems. The next reason is that I can use foreign languages, especially English, and meet foreign people on a daily basis. Also, I can take part in a different kind of workshops. Moreover, it is possible to improve leadership skills by being a coordinator of a team or a project or a board member. Furthermore, we can do the volunteering job on the national or even international level.

What is more, for sure volunteering in ESN will be a plus on my CV. In this way it will be much easier to get a nice internship or a nice job, even abroad, as every additional activity during your studies will increase your chances. However, in my opinion, the most important reason why I joined ESN is personal development which is made by all the factors mentioned above. For sure, it is something unique, therefore, we encourage you to join ESN

​Author: Weronika Kisiel