Become a volunteer | Open Learning Initiative

If you want to join our team of volunteers, send us an email at olive@ceu.edu with the subject line: 'Volunteer @OLIve' and include a description of who you are, what is your background and why you are interested in volunteering at OLIve.

Here is one of our volunteers thoughts on joining OLIve:

"I got involved with CEU OLIve - the Open Learning Initiative as a volunteer in January. I felt that it was a great opportunity for refugees to further their education, whether it’s English language training or more specialized courses, and I wanted to do my bit. For me it was very much a personal cause. My family and I moved from Colombia to Canada as refugees in 2003. My mum didn’t speak English back then and it was through educational opportunities that she learnt the language and went on to further her university education.

I actually arrived in Budapest during the refugee crisis and it put things in perspective. My family and I had a very different experience than the people arriving or passing through Budapest, I thought I knew what it meant to move from one place to another as “refugees” but I now realize we were incredibly fortunate. We never had to sleep at a train station or travel by foot, for example. Seeing this is definitely something that will stay with me. On a more positive note, the most important thing I’ve learnt while at OLIve is how important it is to engage in conversation with people, and it all starts with saying ‘hi’."

Camilo Montoya-Guevara, CEU MA Cultural Heritage Studies Program