This training taught me to embrace discomfort as a core ingredient of growth. Before coming to the training, I’ve heard some experiences of people who have been there earlier and I clearly remember my reaction to this type of sentence – I was highly skeptical.

How is it possible that a youth exchange has such interesting and diverse impacts on people?

After all, I was on multiple trainings before and I don’t remember them influencing people. I wondered what is so different about it. In the end, my curiosity won – I realized that the only way to actually see what is it about is to actually apply and go. And so I went. Still. Skeptical. Also curious, analytical, impatient. And scared, a little bit. But I went. And the training started.

One of the first things that the training made me realize was that in order to do something, one needs to make a decision and take an actual step forward. Weirdly enough, this was something that was already in me. I knew it before, although unconsciously. If I didn’t know about it, I wouldn’t have come to the training since it required a decision and a concrete action of making an application. This realization helped me understand that the whole training is designed to unravel facts which we already know about ourselves, some conscious, many unconscious which are hidden deep inside. And so, with this realization I continued the training, completely open and even more curious.

However, focus of my curiosity shifted – now I was curious about what I will discover about myself. No longer skeptical. But scared, a bit more. And a bit more than that. 8 or so more days after that, the training was already finished. The whole experience was an emotional rollercoaster for me through which I’ve also discovered how I complicate my life situations by overthinking, and how not to do it anymore. It also made me discover how to look at things from a fresh, healthier perspective, and how to get out of my comfort zone. In fact, I could probably list much more than that, but it would take a whole book. I absolutely enjoyed every second of the training and I believe there is something in it for everyone. So if you are curious like me…

Danijel Beslic