University Application Workshop

After hosting multiple English lessons at the youth centre, I realised that many of the students would be graduating from high school within the next two to three years, making it the perfect time to start planning for higher education. I have experience mentoring high school students through university and scholarship applications, and I thought it would be a great opportunity for them to learn about international opportunities they might want to pursue in the future.

After talking to the director of the centre, I found that she was just as excited about the idea as I was. That same week, I hosted a workshop for 12 students on how to find a university that fits their goals and lifestyle, where to search for scholarships, tips and tricks for writing a strong personal statement or scholarship essay, understanding application deadlines, preparing for English proficiency tests, etc.

After the workshop, multiple students reached out to me asking for a more detailed overview of some topics and wanting to hear more about my own experience as a Lester B. Pearson Scholar at the University of Toronto. I found it incredibly rewarding that I was able to go beyond my initial plans and create something meaningful that I hope these students will use in the future. Moreover, I shared all of my workshop materials and resources with one of the teachers and the director so they could potentially continue hosting similar sessions at other youth centres as well.

Concert at the Youth Centre

With Tbilisi's notorious traffic, I thought I was going to be late for the workshop. However, what I did not realise was that the youth centre was hosting a cultural concert that day, where students performed traditional dances they had been practicing throughout the year and showcased their musical talents by playing different instruments.

The teachers decided to surprise me by inviting me as a special guest to the concert. Seeing so many of my students perform made me incredibly proud. It was amazing to watch them flourish not only in my classroom but also through the different forms of art they are passionate about. This reminded me that a youth centre is so much more than just an education - it is also a place where students can discover and express themselves.

Office Routine

Together with the other volunteers, we brainstormed ideas for new workshops that we could host at different youth centres. We wanted to create something in the form of a game while still teaching participants through non-formal education.

 Since all of the volunteers were either from EU countries or other European countries, we decided to create a trivia game with 100 questions about Europe, the European Union, NATO, youth exchanges, Erasmus, etc. To make it even more engaging, we designed it to resemble Monopoly, where participants would roll a dice to determine their next move.

 I can summarise this week in one phrase: crafty hands club.

 Another volunteer and I were responsible for cutting what felt like hundreds of cardboard pieces into identical rectangles, while the rest of our colleagues painted them white. The following day, we handwrote all of the questions and instructions in black marker, preparing every single card for the game.

I will stay mysterious for now, so stay tuned for next week's blog, where I will share how the workshop actually went!

Khinkali Workshop

Never in my life did I imagine that one day I would be standing in a kitchen in Tbilisi with volunteers from Poland, France, Italy, Greece, and Georgia, learning how to make khinkali from scratch with a professional chef.

For those who have never tried them, khinkali are heavenly Georgian soup dumplings. Vegetarian versions do exist, however, the seven of us quickly reached a consensus that nothing could beat the classic beef khinkali.

Both we and the kitchen had turned into a complete mess after what can only be described as a flour fight. This mess took us several hours to clean up afterwards, but was absolutely worth it.

The chef told us that our cooking masterpiece turned out "decent" (such a compliment!), and apparently we did much better than most volunteer groups he had taught before.

That being said, DO NOT ever ask me to make khinkali from scratch again. I really appreciate people who prepare them professionally, and I will happily leave the cooking part to them, while I simply enjoy eating them.