Fish in knight's armor.

Some time ago I got news that my EVS project application was approved and I'm going to Belarus, to work in a youth educational centre. For one year. I'll be working with non-formal education, something I believe in, but have little skill with.

Who am I.

My name is Alexander Oleinikov. I'm 22, I was born in Riga, the capital of Latvia. I'm russian and I speak 3 languages freely - Russian, Latvian and English.
At the time of writing this post I have an unfinished bachelor's degree in IT. I play guitar (but can't sing properly), climb rocks, hike and occasionally do something to improve myself.
I eat, drink, don't smoke and really am not much different from any average fellow. :)

How did I get here.

Basically my life's talent is IT. I come from a family with 4 programmers, working in different spheres of the industry. From childhood a computer was my best friend. It was never a problem for me to choose a university - IT faculty of the state university was the only place I applied. And I was among brightest for some time.
But being narrowed to one thing can play a cruel joke on a person.
In some time I found out that people don't just work all their life for money and then die. That was a revelation for me. I met people who do things they like without a salary or a wage, for fun or experience or just because they believe in the result. That's how I got into my favourite non-governmental organization - JASMA.
So I realised that I have little communication skills, practically no knowledge of how to work in a team and many other pathologies peculiarities. And that's where I began to improve myself.
In non-formal education they have a saying that it "ruins your life". From my parents' point of view it's totally true. But I believe people can change and choose what they want to do for a living. Talent isn't everything, and the three c - car, career, comfort - don't make people happy just like that. I decided I want to be one of those figures who open the doors - an educator of NFE, a youth worker. And that is tough - you have to be a person, not just a worker. It gets double-tough when you see that all the things you learned before are useless in new situations. It's always been like that for me to work with non-formal education, but it always felt like it was worth the effort. There's a short tale of a russian writer which I like on the topic (my translation):

The first wave knocks you of your feet,
and you roll, roll, roll,
but not drown - even if you try to drown...
The second wave is waiting for you,
when you try to get on your fours,
and it gets salty in your mouth,
but you're still alive - even if you're ready to die...
The third wave covers you over your head,
and you're thinking: this is the end,
because it really is the end...
But the fourth wave carries you out in the open seas,
and suddenly you remember, that you've always been a fish.

Max Frei

So yeah, it's hard for me, but more and more often I feel like a fish. :)

Three years later we wrote this EVS project for me. I see this as an opportunity to reach what I want, to learn things I will need in the future. So I'm leaving with almost nothing, but will be back a knight in shining armour. ;P

Where will I go from here?

Follow this blog and find out what it is like - to be a volunteer!