Just before the holidays, the last group of the volunteers at the EUSA office concluded their service. Supported by the Italian civil service and in the partnership with OPES, EUSA and its Institute hosted four volunteers from Italy this year, between March and December.

Valeria Leoci

EUSA turned out to be a beautiful discovery: what the association does is very cool and valuable, and the people working in the office are kind, friendly and helpful, making me feel like in a family.

Thanks to this civil service experience I had the chance to contribute to the promotion of university sports and values like gender equality within sports, work in an association active at European level, develop personal and professional skills and meet inspirational people.

I and my colleagues were able to organise some events at the local level and to participate in online activities. I enjoyed especially organising the adventure race in the Tivoli Park in Ljubljana held in June, collaborating with Radio Capodistria, being involved in the Erasmus+ projects, joining the FISU initiatives – the World Forum and the Volunteer Leaders Academy – and participating in the sports activities with all the EUSA staff. In every activity we did, we could count on the guidance of our supervisors, and after every single contribution, we received words of thanks and appreciation for our commitment.

I’m happy I had the opportunity to do my first long-term experience abroad, living and working for 10 months with other 3 Italian colleagues, collaborating and enjoying the free time with the ESC volunteers working in EUSA, discovering the language, the culture, the natural beauties and the pretty cities of Slovenia and making new international friends.

I think I made a good choice applying for this project. I’m really thankful to EUSA and OPES for this unforgettable chapter of my life, which I’m sure in some way will have a legacy in my future.

I strongly recommend every young Italian citizen to do the civil service and every aspiring volunteer from Europe to join the EUSA team.

Ludovica Appetiti

At the beginning of 2020 I decided to leave for my first volunteer experience abroad, to get out of my comfort zone, have the opportunity to meet new challenges, people with different lifestyles and organisations with different perspectives and experiences. Now that my ten months of civil service are over I am really happy I made this choice.

I am grateful for the year spent in the EUSA office, where all of us have been warmly welcomed, in a serene environment where working has been a real pleasure.

If I went back I would choose Slovenia a thousand times more, because it is a beautiful nation, perfect for nature lovers, with its immense green spaces.
During this experience I had the chance to improve my English, to develop new digital skills, working on assigned tasks including video editing, graphic design and article writing. The planning and managing of sport events together with the other volunteers, giving me the opportunity to meet new people and get good work results, helped me to achieve one of my initial expectations, which was becoming more self-confident.

Despite the pandemic situation, I am glad that with the collaboration between all of us, volunteers, EUSA and our sending organization OPES, this year has passed in a good way.

I recommend everyone to try this experience that can really open the mind and offer new work horizons. To conclude, a big thanks to EUSA and OPES for giving me this opportunity and guiding me along the way.



Arianna Caruso

My stay in Slovenia was shorter than that of the other volunteers: due to the pandemic, I was stuck in my city for more than three months, only managing to leave in mid-June. To date, I have spent just over six months here in Ljubljana. In such a short period everything happened!  

I enjoyed the weather: the heat of the summer months, the sultriness and mosquitoes, the sea and the mountain trips; autumn with fog and rain, winter with snow and a perpetually grey sky. I don't mind the cold at all. Ljubljana is a city that enjoys a fantastic location: one hour from the coast or from the high mountains, if you are not limited by the restrictions.

Despite everything I managed to meet many interesting people, visited many small towns and fantastic places. I have made friendships that I hope not to get lost along the way, especially those with my colleagues and other volunteers.

A special thanks goes to all the EUSA staff: they were all very kind and understanding, they welcomed and guided us, they made us feel part of the family. With their help, I improved my English, I learned to use new and powerful technological means applied to sport, and acquired some computer skills that I did not have before.

Maybe it wasn't the experience I had in mind when I applied, but it was a unique and unrepeatable experience. I enjoyed it immensely! especially the team building activities. This experience opened my mind and showed me new perspectives and possibilities.

Just over 24 hours before departure, it still doesn't seem true that all this is about to end. But I know that, here in Ljubljana, there is a small piece of the world that I can call "home".



Giovanni Fabris

I first heard about EUSA when I was looking for international volunteering opportunities, and the idea of joining the EUSA team for a whole year sounded super stimulating but also remote. Little by little the idea became reality: in March I flew to Slovenia, the country I fell in love with.  

Despite the Covid pandemic that had just started to run wild and the fact that we were working from home, since the beginning I exploited the opportunities that this verdant and mountainous country was offering: every day I took long walks in the near hills and I started to discover on foot the Ljubljana region.

With the summer also came the possibility to go and work in the EUSA office and to meet many people who in short became family. Together with my volunteering colleagues and with the help and the support of the EUSA staff, in spring we organised a race for university students in the central park of the city; it was a success: all the people who joined were satisfied and enthusiastic about the game and we were proud and happy of our job. We also took part throughout the year in a sports show from Radio Capodistria, debating key topics of university sport. Personally participating in a radio show was something new and challenging, but it turned out to be exciting and insightful.

If the workload of this year was lower due to the postponement of the European Universities Games, the fun was not: EUSA found ways to keep us always engaged, and with all the new friends that I made, I travelled the whole country and hiked many of the most beautiful mountains.

I came to Slovenia to clear my mind and take decisions about the future, and I left with many answers to my initial doubts as well as a wealth of experience and friends that I consider the best consequence of this motivating and amusing year.



EUSA would like to sincerely thank all four of the volunteers for all their work and contribution, and applaud them on their achievements and activities – many of them were successfully carried out despite the challenging Covid-19 pandemic.

Grazie e arrivederci!