Hi,

I’m Kuba, I’m 25 and I need help.

To put it simply, I’ve done some stupid things in my life, which I’m now trying to put right. I dropped out of secondary school at 16 and spent four years in various jobs. I didn’t enjoy it – it was monotonous work and poorly paid. I decided to go to the Netherlands. I signed a contract and managed to get the funds I needed to get started (accommodation, food, transport). I’m not proud of it, but I got the money through a loan from Raiffeisenbank. I was due to start in June 2019, but then Covid struck, the borders were closed and the contract was cancelled. I’ve always been a top student, so I decided to try applying for secondary school, albeit after the entrance exams. I love nature, so agriculture and plant protection were the obvious choice.

This year I graduated from secondary school (with honours) and, full of enthusiasm, energy and the feeling that I had finally managed to get my life back on track, at least in part, I applied to university, specifically to study Agroecology.

However, I wouldn’t have survived these four years without the help of my girlfriend, my mum and a great friend. I’ve been living on credit, and still am. Although I do various part-time jobs, there isn’t much work after the Covid period, and certainly not flexible work. Life is expensive.

I’m 25; I’ve wasted my youth on foolishness and mistakes. So now I have about three options.

1) get a job and sort out my finances (it’s not that bad, let’s say 200,000)

2) rely on getting by on the little I earn from part-time jobs and the help of my loved ones, which is mentally draining (my mum works two jobs and supports me as best she can, but her health isn’t the best; she’s just had an operation and even without that, it’s hard for me to cope with the fact that she’s working two jobs to make up for my mistakes, not to mention the hurt I’ve caused her)

3) Confident begging – people donate money to all sorts of things these days, so why not give it a go? It’s a free choice and, although it goes against the grain of my moral values, it’s one of the options.

I said ‘in short’, so I’ll end the ‘abridged’ version here.

I’m writing this a bit on the fly and in between lectures. Over time, I’ll correct mistakes, add information and, most importantly, hopefully even this evening, I’ll add an extended version, in case anyone’s interested in the whole story. And I’ll probably add an English version as well.

Thank you

10 October 2024 12:30