“Can you imagine the potential of this group in Europe?” Sergio Casado, participant from AEGEE-Granada asked during the last reflection session of the week. The room became silent. We all felt the magical atmosphere surrounding us. Now, ten days later, I think I have finally found the right answer to his question: our potential is limitless. In the following paragraphs I will explain to you why I think so, but let us start from the beginning.
I applied to the European School (ES) 2 after I got drunk on New Year’s Eve. I wanted to travel so I told my friend that I would go with her. At that time, I was not sure why I was a member of AEGEE. I knew I liked being in the organization but I could not find the reason why. I needed some answers. To be honest, I did not expect to find them in ES2, but, fortunately, I was wrong to think so.
I was among the first ones to arrive to Castelló, and, this being my first European level event, I did not know anyone. I felt awkward among people of various cultural backgrounds. I did not want to offend anyone, so I did not say anything. I felt hopeless. However, two days later, these people became my friends, and by the end of the week, they became my family.
At first, everyone was skeptical about what we can achieve in one week, but thanks to the hard work of the AEGEE Academy trainers and the unbreakable group dynamics, we managed to come up with great ideas that we knew would reach much further than ES2, and in the end, we believed that we could make a difference.
The organising team did a phenomenal job, and they also became part of the group. We have acquired several useful tools and learned many significant things in the field of project management, and I think we have all found out which roles are suitable for us when working in a team.
As for me, I finally found out what AEGEE spirit means to me. It means waking up to the theme song of the Titanic at 7am, it means drinking in a boat on a Spanish beach with 20 other people I have never met in my life, it means dancing to Macarena in a bar called Stuart Little where a beer costs 0.50€, it means learning while having fun, it means smiling when you think about the memories, it means that when you are 70, you will look back at life and say: “That was one of the best weeks of my life.” It means getting experiences that you never thought you would gain. It means that dreams do come true.
I went to ES2 as one person and came back as a completely different one. This is the type of event that changes you, that opens your mind and that makes you think. I can only recommend to all AEGEE members that they attend next year’s ES2 journey, and I hope that in the end, everyone will leave with this thought in their head: “Can you imagine the potential of this group?”
Written by Péter Mészáros, AEGEE-Budapest