Thessaloniki calling

The story of the change that turned my life and brought me from school classes to European volunteering by Marco Scarangella

“ There is nothing permanent except change”. With these words, the Greek philosopher Heraclitus summed up all his doctrine of change. Honestly, I’ve never really agreed with the thinker of Ephesus: for a good part of my life, I thought that each of us had a well-marked path to follow with determination and without hesitation. But in human life nothing is immutable and, borrowing another phrase from our Heraclitus, “Everything changes and nothing stands still”.

In recent months a real earthquake has hit my life.

Since I was a teenager, my goal has been to become a teacher. I was influenced by the my father, who taught (and still teaches) humanities in a high school. I loved the passion he put into reading, studying and preparing lessons, the idea of being able to talk about my favourite topics in front of an “audience” every day excited me. So, since then, I have set my entire school career on following in my father’s footsteps. First high school, then the faculty of humanities at university, every period of my youth has been nothing more than a stage of approaching the final goal of teaching. After so many years of study and effort, finally, in 2016, I managed to get my first job in humanities at middle school. I was excited; finally, my life project was starting to come true! I admit that I also felt some anxiety when I reached the desired goal; one is always afraid of losing it. That first experience as a teacher was incredible: despite the difficulties, the bureaucracy, and some older teachers not always being friendly towards me, I faced those months putting in all the passion, dedication and professionalism possible. During that time, I was sure that no other job allows you to try so many different crafts at the same time. If you are a teacher, you are more than that. You are a psychologist, a judge, a lawyer, a social worker, a poet, a historian, a graphic designer, a mediator, a computer scientist, a nurse and a secretary. You have the opportunity to be a different version of yourself; every day gave me an extra thrill that pushed me to commit even more to my work. But unfortunately, very often in life, not all that glitters is gold. After the first beautiful experience in the teaching world, a little because of some obstacles along the way, a little because of the feeling of having built a habit that inevitably began to present itself, in the following years slowly my initial enthusiasm began to diminish. If in the first year of teaching my spirit pushed me to overcome all kinds of difficulties, then it

became more and more complicated to face the obstacles that faced me. I still haven’t figured out when that mechanism that seemed to work so well had stopped working, but I began to question what until then had been one of the few certainties in my life, the fact that teaching was my way. The causes of this doubt could be anything, like the diversity of views with older colleagues, an outdated school system and the precariousness that forces young teachers to change schools every year without allowing them to give continuity to their work. However, still today, after many reflections, I have not yet identified the main one. Once I lost the greatest certainty of my existence, nothing was as before, more and more often I felt depressed, angry and frustrated. Later on, for about a year and a half, I had taught the Italian language to some African migrants in my city’s reception shelter. I admit that this was one of the most difficult and at the same time most satisfying challenges I have ever had. I met people from other cultures who had suffered so much and who, despite everything, were willing to put themselves again in the game, it was an experience that touched me deeply. Unfortunately, due to the decision of the Italian government to close most of the reception centres on national territory, this adventure came to an end and so I went back to teaching in public schools. Yet, as much as I tried to put all the determination and professionalism I could

“All the doubts, frustrations and confusion that have characterized the last years of my life have now vanished, there was no space for them on the plane that took me to Thessaloniki.”

© United Society of Balkans

into my work, I soon realized that those doubts had arisen as they did earlier. I understood that I needed to change, to try something different in another field of work. But often the fear of change slows us down, also because in the end when you want to twist your life, you know what you leave behind, but you never know what you find in the future. So I continued for months to do a job I was less and less convinced of. Paradoxically to end this period of inner confusion was the lockdown. It was suspending all kinds of activities for three months. Despite the hardness of this moment, it gave me the chance to meditate at length about my future, my dreams, my projects, my aspirations. The lockdown was the turning point of my existence, as well as for many other people. On the threshold of thirty, I realized that I needed a new experience away from home, to meet new people and to test my real value.

After the lockdown, it’s like some kind of invisible hand guided me. Talking to my best friend, she mentioned the possibility of participating in some European projects. Despite my initial reluctance, I soon realized that it could be my chance. So at the beginning of last summer, I decided to look for a project that could help me to improve both my skills and my person. When I discovered the Balkan Hotspot project, which could offer me the opportunity to work in media in a country like Greece which I always liked, I didn’t waste time, and I sent my application immediately. From that moment everything went so fast that, just a few months later, I have not yet managed to process what happened and I still can not explain the mix of emotions that I have experienced in recent weeks. Now I live with twenty-five other youngsters from different European countries. I meet new people every day, share with them my deepest emotions, creating a real family with people that I didn’t know until a few weeks ago: all this for me was like going back to my college days, it was like being young again. I was also lucky to have found a place like Balkan Hotspot that allows me to unleash my creativity and learn new skills that will be useful to me in the future. All the doubts, frustrations and confusion that have characterized the last years of my life have now vanished, there was no space for them on the plane that took me to Thessaloniki. Our dear Heraclitus claimed that “day by day, what you choose, what you think and what you do is who you become”. Trying to follow the advice of the Greek philosopher, when Thessaloniki called me, I didn’t hesitate even for a second before accepting its invitation.

© Marco Scarangella