Karina
Hey! My name is Karina. I have 3 main motives in life – to experience, to help and to get to know. You could say that I am a person who aims to learn as much as I possibly can with the life that I have been given.
Ever since the 6th grade, I have started volunteering – firstly for an open youth
space in Trakai where I first got to know how a young person can do much more than just hang out with friends – he can participate in various events, trainings and learn about useful skills in life, outside of what he can learn in school.
Simultaneously I got involved in various grand events like marathons and conventions, which provided me with the opportunity to meet all kinds of people and to learn the inner workings of these events. I tried all kinds of positions while volunteering there – from helping out with cosplay, handing out water and cheering, to folding a 100 pieces of origami. All of these experiences taught me many things, but one lesson, in particular, stood out – no matter how much you have learned, you can always learn, do and experience more, and that’s why I am constantly looking for new and novel things to do.
When I got into high school I found one particular NGO that I fell in love with – Lietuvos Jaunimo Sąjunga “Žingsnis (“Lithuanian Youth Union “Step”). There I was mesmerized by the atmosphere created in youth camps, and later by everything you can learn there – various trainings, conferences, conventions and many other learning opportunities! I have facilitated many trainings, helped prepare documents for the improvement of the inner workings, helped with creating and carrying out events and many others. It has been 4 years now and at the moment I am on the board of directors and we mostly do strategic planning for the future.
At the start of this journey, I also got an opportunity to go to a youth exchange, which then completely changed my understanding of the world and actually made me see how young people are similar, even though they are from different countries, believe in different religions or have different skin colours. Being only 15 at the time, this ignited inspiration in me to seek these experiences, these lessons, to visit different cities, to get to know as many inspiring people as possible and learn from them! Do all sorts of projects together, to try to inspire onlookers to take action, make changes wherever they see fit and live life to the fullest.
One of my objectives is to share the knowledge I have acquired, to help others, so I will be studying pedagogy in Denmark in the near future. At the moment I am looking forward to this summer, many wonderful experiences to come and I hope to meet you, whoever you are so that we could share, learn and grow together!