My experiences as a competitor at the EuroSkills 2023 Gdansk competition

We arrived at the venue for the first time on monday. The weather was quite nice for the whole competition, although it was quite a bit more humid than back in Finland.

 

The venue was held at the AmberExpo Gdansk building, with food and ceremonies held at the Polsat Plus Arena Gdansk. Most of the skills, including mine, were held in large tents set up around the venue. Our skill was held in the same tent as the florists', which meant our tent was thankfully held at a lower temperature than most.

 

There had been some delays on the equipment we were meant to have due to customs troubles, but the organizers managed to find suitable replacements in time for the competition to proceed on schedule. Overall we had a comprehensive set of tools available to us and the experts and workshop manager were very helpful whenever any problems occured.

 

Photo: Olaf Sawajner / WorldSkills Europe

The competition lasted for three days, during which we showed our abilities in every aspect of our field of expertise. These days were packed with hard work and focus from every competitor.

 

On the fourth day we had a competitors' outing, which ended with food and music after traveling to various attractions in the historical center of Gdansk.

 

On the evening of the fourth day was the closing ceremony where we would see how we fared compared to our co-competitors.

 

 Photo: Laura Luomalehto / Skills Finland

I myself managed to score second place in my skill, receiving a silver medal that is currently on display in my living room. Overall our team of 25 received 6 medals, excluding Medallions of Excellence.

 

The next day it was time for us to return to Finland. I managed to take one last image of Gdansk on the plane as we were taking off, finishing off our experiences of EuroSkills in Gdansk.