When the European Union Boosts Your Self-Esteem
Before Christmas, our school took part in an online meeting with students from Luovi Vocational School (Finland) as part of the project EUCLASS ALLIANCE. At first, it was just another international activity. In reality, it became something much more meaningful.
Many of my students have grown up hearing that they are not capable, that they are not good at school, and especially that they don’t know English. They often show little interest in learning, not because they don’t care, but because they have rarely felt that anyone truly believed in them.
That day, something changed.
They were excited. They spoke in English. They asked questions. They listened with curiosity. For a moment, they stopped seeing themselves as “students who can’t” and started seeing themselves as young people who can communicate, who can connect, who have a voice beyond their classroom.
When the meeting ended, the most important result was not linguistic improvement or cultural knowledge, but confidence. Thanks to the this project, they left with higher self-esteem, proud of themselves, surprised by their own abilities.
As a teacher, this is my first and most important goal: helping students believe in themselves. That online meeting, supported by this project, achieved something that textbooks alone cannot. It reminded my students — and myself — that sometimes, education is not about grades or content, but about dignity, trust, and the simple feeling of being capable.
And sometimes, Europe feels very close.
Ane Ruiloba - Centro San Viator