1. From Frustration to New Hobby

University of Applied Sciences Vienna 2018

It is the year 2018, and in September I started my first degree in “Corporate Communications” at the University of Applied Sciences in Vienna.

We spent the first few days introducing ourselves and getting to know each other. Sharing fun facts to break the ice. Giving three-minute monologues about ourselves. Playing games to get to know each other. I always thought games were supposed to be fun, but they were even less fun than my fun fact.

My monologue went something like this:

Hi everyone, my name is Andjela Cegar. I’m 18, and live in a small town in Lower Austria. My mother tongue is Serbian. A few months ago, I graduated from high school. In my free time, you can find me snuggled under a blanket reading romance novels or Wattpad stories, listening to movie soundtracks, and indulging in my Nimm2 lollipop addiction. Occasionally, I leave my sanctuary, otherwise known as my room, to meet up with friends. That’s me and my life summed up in six sentences. Wait, before I forget, my fun fact is that the town I live in, Gänserndorf, translates as “geese village” [insert sound effect of knee-slapping, eye-crinkling, side-splitting laughter].

The more rounds of introductions we did, the more frustrated I became. Frustrated with my life for its lack of exciting stories. Frustrated with myself for the dissatisfaction brewing inside me. Frustrated with university for exposing insecurities, I’d apparently buried so deeply that I wasn’t even aware they existed until professors started asking about our hobbies, passions, and fun facts. Those darn fun facts.

As it turned out, as well as getting to know my fellow students better, I also learned more about myself. I’m a freshly graduated teenager just starting university, not sure if it’s something I see myself enjoying. I’m not doing anything I’m really passionate about. So, I listen to music to silence my reality. I turn to books to escape my responsibility. Responsibility towards myself. To change my life.

Days, weeks, and months went by until one night, one Google search would change the course of my life.

Google search: Volunteering at events in Vienna.

Greedy for every opportunity to volunteer, I applied for any position I could find. Whether it was waking up at 4 a.m. to hand out accreditation badges at a tech startup festival or standing in a car park welcoming leading experts and executives from the autonomous mobility ecosystem.

The realization that I was enjoying myself didn’t hit me in the face; the shift in awareness happened over time like a butterfly metamorphosing. Slowly and gently.

It was nothing compared to the exhilaration I felt the first time I volunteered at a sports event.

Google search: Volunteering at sports events in Vienna.

And so, the journey began.