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English
What do you do?
As a coordinator of European projects, I prepare documents and evaluations for ESC volunteers. I am part of a support group for users with mental health issues and their relatives. I'm active in the office, and during the Festival of Youth Culture Kunigunda, you can find me in the info office, where I manage schedules, backstage, and other documents.
My first associations with youth and childhood are primarily carefreeness, hanging out with friends, and in high school, with classmates, long nights, sleep-in weekends, and the old stove at my grandma's, where I warmed my feet on cold winter afternoons.
The time I spent in my youth was the most beautiful (end of the nineties, beginning of the new millennium). Topics that were previously taboo were opening up, we could express our opinions, and with the opening of the youth centre, we had the opportunity to express those opinions through different projects. Velenje was ours in terms of partying, and good times. The music was good, and with the old 1000 tolar, we could buy a pack of cigarettes, drink a few beers in a bar, sometimes even enough for a taxi. It was awesome.
The time young people live in today is, on the one hand, harder, and on the other, much easier. You have more opportunities to express your opinions through different channels and to be heard. On the other hand, Big Brother is always watching, demanding more from you: better grades, more extracurricular activities, a better figure. Demanding everything from you and more.
As a teenager, the hardest thing for me was never fitting into the mainstream. Not even in elementary school did I dress like the others, and my behaviour wasn’t the same, in the sense of helping others and good manners. I still remember how mad my mom was when I brought home my grandmother's 40-year-old coat. I wore it for several years, and Mom eventually came to terms with it 😊. In high school, I somehow blossomed when I found like-minded young people. Today, I know that my differences, which I didn’t see as different, taught me to respect everyone, to not judge at first glance but rather to get to know them. I respect different opinions and try to understand them, even if I don't agree. I act and accept things widely.
From that time, I miss genuine personal relationships. When we girls would call each other on the landline and arrange: "Hey, I'm leaving home now, I'll call Vesna, and you call Inka, and we meet halfway." That doesn’t happen now, to meet in the middle of the day for a drink and talk for three hours. Everything is over the phone, impersonal. Five calls, ten texts, and then someone still ends up late 😊.
With friends, I liked to hang out, have fun, and party. There are many stories that I remember today with a smile or even laughter. Those were really good times.
I liked to (but shouldn’t have) … No, no, I didn’t do anything I shouldn’t have 😊 😊 😊. Well, my name does rhyme with 'Nalita' (meaning 'drunk').
Today, I keep myself young with my kid. My teenager teaches me all about youth and enthusiasm all over again, he sees the world broadly, doesn’t judge, and sees the good in people.
Today, I would tell my younger self to take advantage of available opportunities. To not say no to new things, to try, see, feel, and to be aware of the fact that not everyone has the same opportunities. To read as much as I can, have open eyes, collaborate, and not let fear dictate my life. Something can quickly cross your path and things change forever.
What I like most about working with young people is that they express their opinions, want to change the world for the better, and are working on it. I like that they stand by their principles, can back them up, and fight for a better life and better conditions on this dear planet of ours. And it's up to us, the old guard, to enable them with our experiences and knowledge so that they realize their wishes and ambitions.
