It is one of the things that everyone studying international relations can dream of – walking the halls of the European Parliament; the same halls that so many impressive people walked on; the halls that hosted so many impressive meetings; the halls where history was born. And it is impressive indeed; the first time I crossed the elusive parliamentary front gate knowing I was now part of the colossus felt surreal. It felt like I am about to find myself in a time of my life marked by both excitement and hard work. So here is my story of how it all happened – and what it really meant to me.

Rather than discuss the work itself—which I am not at liberty to discuss anyway because of an NDA I had to sign—I would rather focus on the various perks of the work and how the whole experience itself would have been worth it even if I was not working at all. So here is my take at the European Parliament and the work experience in its entirety. 

Almost every online tutorial on how to find a job will mention networking. But while I have always known that contacts matter, never did I realize this as strongly as in Brussels. It would be customary to be drinking in a bar at the diplomats-loved Place du Luxembourg and be handed three business cards a night by your fellow partygoers. I have come to realize that establishing contacts means everything in the Brussels diplomatic community, and especially lobbyists and politicians themselves know how important personal connections sometimes are in swaying people’s opinions. 

What this really means is that people are extremely open to meeting new people, and even though I have worked in various diplomatic environments before, Brussels was ten steps further. I have met various assistants to MEPs, trainees, lobbyists, journalists, and many others only through work and not through personal introductions. For instance, it is enough to share the same elevator or sit next to each other at a meeting and people will take the opportunity to start talking to you. This is one of the perks that really made the whole experience extremely pleasant.

Brussels is a truly international city, and even though I am used to the international dimension of for instance The Hague, one key emblematic thing about Brussels is that every EU nation is represented in ample quantities. To my surprise, I realized that three of my Slovak friends I met back at home are in Brussels at the same time, and it took little effort to be introduced to more and more Slovaks through them. I have always shied away from hanging out with Slovaks when abroad, but the Slovak community in Brussels has shown me that hanging out with like-minded Slovaks is something that cannot be experienced in the company of international people. We have similar experiences to a significant degree: having been brought up in Slovakia and studied abroad, and we share a common understanding of the world that only these two aspects can lead to.

One of the greatest things to admire about MEPs is their broad expertise: even though they usually focus only on a small number of topics, they are required to understand the basics of every issue that the Parliament deals with, given their votes in plenary sittings. This means that they are knowledgeable on every issue that concerns their constituents, from foreign affairs and security, through taxes and budget, to the environment and human health. As a consequence, trainees are also exposed to a variety of topics, especially since many need to prepare an explanation of votes, which are published online on each MEP’s website. Personally, I got the chance to delve deeper into the topics of pesticides and environmental policy, including carbon emissions and circular economy. Without this internship, I would have never known the complexity of the discussion on pesticides and experience the engagement of the MEPs when being face-to-face with industry representatives, truly grilling them in the face of questionable pesticide use practices.

Where to even start with this one… Being taken to Strasbourg by my MEP was one of the best experiences during the whole traineeship. I was suddenly in the epicenter of European decision-making. The buzz of the place was incredible; people were constantly vigilant. I had the privilege of going to Strasbourg alone only with my boss, and I was thus his right hand on the ground for the whole stay, unlike in Brussels where he has his assistants. So what have I done there? I attended meetings, saw Mark Rutte in the plenary, and established new connections again. 

I had heard very bad things about Brussels before moving there and so I had no expectations (or perhaps I had thought the city would be truly terrible). I believe that it saved me: I ended up being very positively surprised by how much the city center actually is beautiful (especially Grande Place). And living in Ixelles, the relatively rich French part of Brussels, I was in a place with cute little houses all around, lively atmosphere, and generally a great vibe. This Brussels bubble meant that I never set foot in the neighborhoods considered dangerous, and my perception of Brussels was somewhat skewed. But the little part of Brussels that I got to experience has made me feel safe, welcome, and like it was a place where I belonged – for the time being.

✦

As one of my friends has said, Brussels is a place of “coordinated chaos” – while a city like The Hague is a place which functions perfectly and you will have the easiest life there, Brussels is the perfect combination of functionality and dysfunctionality: just the right dose of all of the things you need in a city, in combination of little chaos which makes you feel like you need to show some effort and contribute to making things work. And so while The Hague lets you sit back and enjoy your life, Brussels is the best place if you want to feel like you are in a developed Western city with all the related perks, but also like the feel of a crazy disorganized feel of the lesser developed regions.

Thank you, Brussels, for being what you are.