Our project is coming to its end. This year was like a rollercoaster for me. To be honest, at first I didn’t know what to expect from this project at all. I was new to this but in the end I am really grateful and glad that I joined. I would say that I manifested this project because at that time when it just started I was having a gap year and one of my goals was to be a part of a project. One day Kata told me that she had an idea and it was managing a project about Vietnamese immigrants/ minority in Czechia. This theme was close to me and she asked me if i want to join in. I immediately said yes and that is the story of how i got into this wonderful project called Roots of the Future. 

I wanted to challenge myself and do something that was meaningful for me. At first I was really full of enthusiasm. The first moment when I felt a little bit of stress was the time when our group had the very first meeting. I am introverted and I was thinking what if our group won’t be so close and won’t work out? When I first met others it felt like there was no room and reason for stress. I think that we clicked  immediately. Whenever we had a meeting we cooked and ate together. It was a bonding activity. When I am with my team it always feels like being with a family or long-term friends even though I know someone only for a year. It feels like a safe place for me, I can be open and myself around them. I would say that overall our team-work was ok? There were some hardships when someone could not do some tasks so in the end some of us had more work to do but it was always kinda balanced. 

When I look back at our achievements I am really proud of our team. Every event was a challenge for us because everything was new. I had to learn new skills and went out of my comfort zone. The most challenging activity for me was speaking to the public. After many public speeches I got more comfortable and thanks to that I am not scared anymore. I got more confident and I learnt my weaknesses and got to know what to improve. 

There sure were some hardships during our project and moments where I was asking myself if this project is going to continue in the future or not. I had doubts for sure. Because all of us are students and we had our exams period during winter. Our communication and project got stuck at one point but we managed to overcome this period and after winter we went on full speed with organizing other events. The best thing about our events was that every event was special and unique on its own. People were enjoying their time with us. We got a chance to show them something from our culture from sharing meals to sharing stories about our parents and how they got to Czechia. The best thing for me was seeing them smiling and having a good time. Our preparations and hard work paid off. 

During our project we got a chance to meet many interesting people with interesting jobs, stories and backgrounds. With some of them we did a collaboration together and also we have some interesting partnerships for the future. It is wonderful to be surrounded by people who can inspire you. 

Our project is finishing and we were thinking of continuing or ending it. Personally, I think that it would be a pity to end it so I said that I would be glad if we could continue with it. Every member of the team agreed to go on with this project and I can not wait for the future and what will come.