Believe and Achieve experience: I started working and everything was like a dream

Nicu Sorin is a young person living with multiple sclerosis in Portugal. This year, he was among those offered a paid internship through EMSP’s Believe and Achieve (B&A) programme. His conclusion, upon successfully finishing the internship:

“This opportunity reminded me that I have value, that I still matter.”

Watch his B&A video message and read his full account below:

My name is Sorin Nicu, I am 36 years old and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) five and a half years ago. My life was turned upside down by the diagnosis. My marriage of ten years broke up and life made no sense to me; so much so that I seriously considered suicide. It was at my lowest point that I managed to lift my head, to gather all my strength and, somehow, restart and get on with my life.

After I made this decision, good things started to happen. The first one was that I found out I have a gift for writing. I published a book in Portuguese and became the first Romanian to ever do so! Time passed until one day I was sitting at home and I saw the advert about an internship for a young person with MS as part of the Believe and Achieve programme.

Photo: Nicu, centre of the image, wearing a suit an tie, and his colleagues at Novartis

Without much hope, I sent my CV… and I was called to an interview. Then, I was called to a second interview. And then, on a joyful day, the employer called me and said that I got the job. I couldn´t believe it! Me, an immigrant with a health condition, got the position! I started working at Novartis and everything was like a dream.

People were kind and always willing to help. My colleagues valued the work I did, something that made me reconsider the way I thought about myself. Before, upon my MS diagnosis, I believed I was good-for-nothing and that it would be the best just to crawl into a dark corner and wait to die.

But this opportunity and working with these great colleagues restored my self-belief. Being part of a team, contributing and using my skills has reminded me that I have real value and that, despite the MS, I still matter. This internship completely changed my life in a good way so thank you, Emma {Emma Rogan, Believe and Achieve Project Coordinator}, from the bottom of my heart.