I arrived in Málaga with the feeling that I had finally reached the place I had been trying to get to for months. It wasn’t an easy departure: inside me there was a mix of excitement, unease and that subtle spark you feel when you’re getting close to something you’ve dreamed about for a long time.
My name is Shasa, I’m 27 year-old girl and I’m a graphic designer from southern Italy. After earning my bachelor degree in graphic design, spending years studying, working creatively and completing a year of civil service in public libraries, I realized that what truly drives me is the desire to build something of my own: a project that brings together communication, design and a strong human dimension. In recent years, I’ve also developed a deep interest in environmental sustainability and I’ve been working to integrate it more consciously into my creative vision.
My passions revolve around branding, communication, art, visual design and writing, but lately I’ve felt a growing need to connect all of this to a real, tangible impact: both human and environmental. I’ve always felt the pull to step beyond the boundaries of my hometown, to understand how people work in other places, how ideas evolve when the context around them changes.
The Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs program came at a moment when I was craving change. It wasn’t a sudden decision: I was actively looking for an experience that wouldn’t just teach me something new, but would genuinely transform me. I wanted to widen my perspective, immerse myself in an international environment and understand how my work could meaningfully contribute to the issues I care most about. That desire to challenge myself abroad and grow on many levels became so strong that it guided every choice, every preparation and every step leading up to my departure.
These first 15 days have been a whirlwind of emotions: excitement, confusion, gratitude. Everything feels new: the streets, the rhythm, the daily routine. Even the silence has a different tone. In my sustainability project, I’m discovering how environmental topics can be approached with a mindset that’s open, experimental, practical and genuinely creative. Watching an experienced entrepreneur up close is giving me a real sense of what it means to bring a project forward with vision, consistency and responsibility. I’m learning not only new methods but also a different way of thinking which is more flexible, collaborative and socially conscious.
On a personal level, every day reveals something about myself that I didn’t have the chance to notice before: my ability to adapt, to bounce back, to welcome change as something that can help me grow rather than hold me back. This experience is teaching me to trust my abilities more deeply and to believe in the possibility of building a future that truly reflects who I want to become. Each day leaves me with a small discovery and each discovery becomes another step in the path I’m shaping.
So, these first 15 days have been intense, delicate and bright: a beginning that reminded me that growth can be scary but staying still is even scarier.