Education in the EU -Victoria

On January 20, 2020, I woke up at what seemed to be the crack of dawn (or 8:30 am for morning people) and started to get ready for the first day of my internship. My mom has always taught me that it is better to be overdressed than under-dressed, so I threw on my brand new skirt and turtleneck sweater with boots, hoping that I would fit right in with my coworkers. After taking the 95 bus for what seemed to be hours, I finally made my way to Rue De L’Industrie 10, which would soon become my home for the next two months. I walked into the doors of my new office, where I quickly noticed that everyone else was dressed quite casually, only wearing jeans and sweaters. This was the moment I knew I would fit right in with my colleagues at my new internship.

Although it was cut short, I spent the past two months as a policy and communication assistant at the Lifelong Learning Platform. LLLP was founded in 2005 as a response of civil society members to new European policies in both education and training. This organization is an umbrella that gathers 42 different European organizations that actively specialize in the fields of education, training, and youth from all across Europe and beyond. These member organizations represent over 50,000 educational associations and institutions covering all sectors of formal, informal, and non-formal learning. Their members then reach out to several millions of beneficiaries. Because of these statistics, I have been able to participate in a variety of different activities and projects over the past two months.

If you know anything about me, you would know how passionate I am about reforming the public school education system to ensure equal learning opportunities for all students, no matter their background. Through my internship at the Lifelong Learning Platform, I was able to see how much of a difference educational policy makes when it comes to providing these educational and training options to different students. Although education systems vary from country to country, educational policy throughout the European Union is completely different from that within the United States. I was able to attend multiple conferences and events where major policy stakeholders were sharing their thoughts and opinions on these laws and budgets. Without the support of my supervisor and coworkers, I would not be standing in the position that I am today.

Words cannot even begin to describe how heartbroken I am that I had to leave all of my incredible colleagues back in Brussels due to the COVID-19 outbreak. I am fortunate to say that I will continue to work remotely for the Lifelong Learning Platform until the end of this semester, continuing on with my policy and communication work. I could not have imagined a better organization or colleagues to spend my short time in Brussels with. I am looking forward to the next few blogs where you can hopefully get to know me and my thoughts more!