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It’s been a long time since an interview has appeared on this blog! This time I am introducing Àgnes Leyrer, the External Relations Director of AEGEE-Europe and believe me, this interview shouldn’t remain unpublished! Just think about those things you always wanted to ask Àgnes, but always were afraid to do so? What are the questions that are coming into to your mind? Why is she not married while being already 25? What is her favourite city? Is her thesis about AEGEE? Just continue reading and we will bring some more light to the person of Àgnes Leyrer!
Michael: Hello Agnes, what do you like about your grandmother?
Agnes: She is really caring and truly tries to understand me, doesn’t really manage, but tries and she cooks pretty well.
M: What are the things that she is not able to understand in you?
A: What I am doing in AEGEE, why I am volunteering for a whole year without being paid. She is also wondering about what I am studying and what international relations are about. Of course also about my private life… why I am not married being already 25!
M: Why are you not married?
A: Because I don’t want to J
M: You don’t want to get married at all or maybe just not at the present point?
A: Of course I want to get married, but when I will be 29. Then I am still young, not 30 yet!
M: Being 29 means you are still young, but when you will turn 30, you will suddenly get old?
A: Of course!
M: Alright and whom would you like to marry?
A: I don’t know yet and unfortunately there is no such quiz in Facebook telling me whom I should marry.
M: What did Facebook teach you so far?
A: Facebook told me that I should live in Prague!
M: What do you like about Prague?
A: It is almost like Budapest, but more beautiful and more exotic. And it is a central European city!
M: How often have you been in Prague?
A: I have been twice. The first time for few days during the AEGEE20 event and afterwards I have also visited a friend there.
M: Looks like you are in AEGEE already for a pretty long time.
A: That was my second event, so I am in AEGEE since five and a half years!
M: What was your first event?
A: AEGEE-Utrecht Summer University! Utrecht is still my favourite city!
M: In what kind of environment would you like to live?
A: I can imagine to live one more year in Brussels, then one year in London. Well, I have never been there, but I think I should live there. Then when I will get 29 I will move back to hungary, I will have children and a happy live. I would like to move back to my hometown and have 2 children.
M: What names would you like to give them?
A: My son will be called Jeromos, because it is a very ancient name, but his friend may call him Jerry. So he will be really cool already in the kindergarden! My daughter will be Anastasia, because it’s beautiful!
M: What kind of job would you like to have there?
A: I don’t know, but probably some job in which I would be working with international people, maybe at the university or organising international conferences.
M: If you could just now go to any country in the world without being worried about anything, where would you like to go?
A: Probably I’d like to go to some Southern American country. I have never been outside of of Europe. I am a narrow-minded European. European Nationalist. (laughter)
M: What is your favourite place in Brussels?
A: Atomium!
M: What are you doing there, when you visit it?
A: Just watching it! I’ve been inside three times. It is nice, but I am just watching it. I imagine why there have to be three pillars, which are holding it. There shouldn’t be any pillars holding it. I think you should be able to construct it without these pillars. You would only need to take care that there is always the same amount of people in all the balls.
M: Maybe you should change your studies and become and architect?
A: Yes but it is a lot of counting and drawing.
M: What do you like to do?
A: I like organising stuff. Being on the top of the things and having the overview. If I don’t see anyone better than me for the job, I take leadership.
M: And how do you know if someone is better than you?
A: I decide! (Laughter)
M: What are you doing right now, except your work in the Comité Directeur?
A: Right now I am also still writing my thesis.
M: What is it about?
A: My thesis will be about the Committee of the Regions, what power it will have after the Lisbon Treaty and how the Committee of the Regions should have AEGEE as its advisor.
M: So you are writing your thesis about AEGEE?
A: In an indirect way yes.
M: How does your advisor likes the fact that you are writing your thesis about a student’s association in which you are working?
A: He basically doesn’t know yet, but it was him, who told me “why don’t you write about AEGEE?”. He always asked me what AEGEE is really about. He know Frank Biancheri and he knows AEGEE, but it is difficult to explain what AEGEE is really about.
M: You as the External Relations Director have difficulties in explaining what AEGEE is about?
A: In a way yes, because AEGEE is for many people just really about cultural exchange and getting to know people… but content-wise it is very wide. Last year there ways Y Vote, with which you could show off with, but right now projects like “Where does Europe End?” or “Beyond Europe”, are quite blurry. If someone is not involved in AEGEE, it is difficult to explain.
M: How would you explain what the AEGEE spirit is about to some random person met on the street?
A: The AEGEE-Spirit is about getting to know people and becoming immediately friends, even though you live in different countries and you just met few hours or a day ago. It cannot really happen in your normal daily life.
M: What does distinguish the AEGEE-Spirit from the spirit in other organisations?
A: The difference is that we have students from all kind of studies. Most students associations are collecting law students or engineers and there you find really similar people to you. But in AEGEE you can also find people, who study totally different things to you, but still share to be European and the openness towards Europe.
M: Would you like to sum up and to send any message to the people reading this interview?
A: Keep on the AEGEE-Spirit, because it is one of the greatest things in the world and also organise nice projects and conferences with good content, because then you can get to know a lot of interesting people.
M: Good girl! Thank you Agnes!
Interview by Michael Makowiecki