Experience 2 junio 2023

ESMOWAY

5-step method to prepare and support our participants in their intership in Valencia.

We have news! The development of a new way of preparing and supporting our participants. This method is called the ESMOWAY, and it is an adaptable 5-step process that we are implementing with our students, which lets them capitalize on their internship in Valencia from the very beginning of their stay.

This method was born from the recognition of the importance of actively cultivating transversal skills during the entirety of the participants’ stay.

Why the need of ESMOWAY?

Here in ESMOVIA, we keep up with the times. We know that in our post-covid world, it is more important than ever to place focus on transversal soft skills like adaptability, resilience, and self-awareness; capabilities that can truly help individuals navigate the complexities of the world nowadays.

During our years of expertise as a mobility provider, we have also identified five universal capacities which heavily influence if the students feel satisfied overall, both personally and professionally, during their stay abroad. These five universal capacities are the following:

  • Attitude
  • Autonomy
  • Adaptation
  • Awareness
  • Intercultural Abilities

Most young people are currently having difficulty in the process of managing themselves and the direction they are going, but even more, managing why they are going in this direction. Having a toolkit and training can make all the difference.

To whom is addressed?

We work with students from the age of sixteen to their early twenties. Young adults from a variety of European countries, having their first work experience in internships, but not only this, their first work experience in another country. We believe you can imagine that this experience is both extremely enriching and utterly challenging for these young adults.

How do we do this?

Through different group dynamic activities, this method focuses on increasing the self-awareness and self-confidence of our students, so they can be more critical, more capable of handling the ups and downs of the experience and ultimately be happier and more empowered during their journey; both here and when they go back home.

The steps to the ESMOWAY method are the following five:

  • Step 1 – Understand and Recognize
    • The focus of this step is for our students to understand the process of culture shock and be able to recognize where they place themselves in the process. Conversations are stimulated about intercultural biases between one’s home country and the new country of destination.
  • Step 2 – Dream and Discover
    • The focus of this step is for our students to go deeper and more profound into their dormant motivations and passions, to get excited about new realities they can develop. Students discover qualities about themselves that serve for their future steps, such as their natural leadership style.
  • Step 3 – Set Objectives
    • The focus of this step is for our students to be able to organize in a visual format, their strengths, and areas of improvement, across various facets in their professional and personal lives. Tony Robbin’s rapid planning method is used to help establish a realistic working method for goal setting.
  • Step 4 – Act and Challenge
    • The focus of this step is for our students to act based on their previous self-awareness work, so they can learn how to convert their objectives into reality. Through this process, they understand themselves in relation to others, and take on challenges within the city both personally and professionally, to consolidate the importance of taking steps in a direction to achieve one’s goals.
  • Step 5 – Reflect and Connect
    • The focus of this step is for our students to actively practice their empathy skills, to be able to analyze their work abroad experience through the lens of critical thinking and the consideration of pros and cons. Students can write a letter to themselves about their stay and their achievements, to stimulate positive self-talk communication and recognition.

When do we do this?

The above-mentioned activities are incorporated into the different meetings we have with our students.

The number of meetings the participants have with ESMOVIA depends on the length of their stay. Each group always has one initial Welcome Meeting, a fortnightly Follow-Up meeting and a Final Meeting at the end of their stay.

Ultimately, our focus is on educating empowered individuals with empathy and interpersonal skills, able to experience and share in different cultures and countries. And to do this, we are on our way… the ESMOWAY. Come join us, we’d love to have you on board.