Not only AEGEE-Utrecht should know Maria Zwartkruis, who is one of the candidates of the Network Commission.  In this interview, you can read the successes of her life (in and out AEGEE) and know her more about her candidature as a Network Commissioner.

The AEGEEan: Tell us more about Maria Zwartkruis. What do you do? What do you dream about your future?

Maria: My name is Maria, I am from AEGEE-Utrecht and I am 21 years old. I almost finished my bachelor in Biomedical Sciences, and next academic year I will start my master’s degree in Neuroscience and Cognition. That is also what I dream of for the future: to become a neuroscientist. For the closer future, I will stay active in AEGEE, I hope I will be able to inspire and spread the AEGEE-spirit to as many people as possible, and to support the network of course. And what better way to do that than to become a NetCommie?

What is your AEGEE story? How long have you been working for AEGEE?

I became a member in August 2013. After being locally very active for almost a year, I attended my first European event, NWM Copenhagen, where I fell in love with AEGEE-Europe. Shortly afterwards I joined the board of AEGEE-Utrecht as an Assessor for European Affairs & External Affairs. At the end of that year, I joined the Key to Europe team, and rolled into The AEGEEan team afterwards. I have also been a member of the Corporate and Institutional Relations Committee, and I am currently a SubCommie for Loes.

Why did you join AEGEE?

Well, when I started studying, I was not actually planning to join any student association. However, during the introduction week of the university, I came across the stand of AEGEE-Utrecht, and their stories about travelling made me want to join. Also, when I attended the social drink for the first time, the awesome open-minded people made me want to stay!

What are your plans, if you are elected to the Network Commission?

The first thing I will do, is building a strong team of SubCommies. Besides relieving some of my workload, this also serves the purpose of knowledge transfer; maybe one of my SubCommies will succeed me as a future NetCommie. Of course I will carry out the standard tasks of the Network Commission, like checking the antenna criteria and organising Network Meetings. I will also strongly encourage antenna to organise high quality training events, and ensure that they are aware of external training possibilities. This way, I hope to be able to improve the human resources situation in AEGEE. In case I will work with the Nedertop area, I would like to look at the possibilities for founding AEGEE-Wageningen (continuing the work of Boudewijn and Loes).

Why do you want to be a part of this commission?

I see the Network Commission as the group of people that holds the network together: supporting the locals individually, while simultaneously guiding them all towards the common goal of AEGEE. Every time I attend an AEGEE event, I feel this common goal connects us: this is what drives me to work for the Network Commission. As a NetCommie, I will be more involved in the network and I will be able to contribute to it more.

Do you think you will change something in the Network Commission?

I think the Network Commission is constantly changing, because new members are elected every Agora. Of course this is good for knowledge transfer, but I think the first thing to focus on is getting accustomed to the team and to establish good team dynamics. I think the Network Commission works pretty well as it is, so I do not see the need for much change in the structure or working on the format. Of course they are working on the Antenna Criteria reform now, which is a pretty big change in itself. I will try to implement these changes the best I can.

How will you contribute to the commission?

Firstly, I see myself as a kind and approachable person, which makes it easy for people to reach out to me if they have any problems. Furthermore, I am often the stable factor in a team, which means I have the discipline to work hard for the team and finish deadlines, as well as on a personal level. I am usually someone who tries her best to keep the team together. Besides this, I like keeping things structural, so it is easy to keep an overview of them. In short: I will contribute to structure and stability.

What was your unforgettable moment in AEGEE?

Of course I have had many unforgettable experiences within AEGEE. The one that comes to my mind first at this moment is EPM Leiden. I was a local organiser there, and it was amazing to see a statutory event from the other side. We had so much fun, while at the same time ensuring the participants had everything that they need. The downpart of being an organiser is that you miss a lot of the content, but we made up for that by having long discussions until the early morning while enjoying a drink and a snack, after getting the participants to the gym safely and cleaning up the party venues of course.

How will you use your skills to develop AEGEE?

After almost four years of membership, I can say that I have quite some experience now both on a local and European level. I will always be there for an antenna to answer any questions they might have about anything. And if I do not have an answer myself, I can send them to other experts in my network, that I have gotten to know over the years. Besides that, I will also give workshops and sessions at the Network Meetings I will organise. I hope the participants will take the knowledge and skills that they gain there home to their locals.

Which is the first thing that you were proud of in your life?

Outside of AEGEE, the first thing I can remember is my figure skating career. I started with synchronised skating when I was ten years old, and continued for the next eight years. From the first steps on the ice to performing in international shows and competitions, this was a great passion of mine. Although I had to quit for practical reasons, I still love it. What made me even more proud is that the team I used to skate in took part in the world championships this year! Within AEGEE, the first thing I was really proud of, was my first sponsor deal as a fundraising responsible.

How and in what way can you think that AEGEE is not perfect?

Although I really love our organisation, there is room for improvement. For example, our human resources situation is not always ideal. Sometimes, not all available positions in European bodies are filled, or events have to be cancelled due to the lack of applications. I think the Network Commission can collaborate with the Human Resources Committee and the Events Quality Assurance Committee in order to analyse the reasons for this, and in order to tackle these problems.

Question from the Network: What is the area of the network you would like to work with?

Of course, I am open for cooperation with all antenna and network areas. Yet, working with the Nedertop area seems most practical to me since I can easily reach these locals due to the small distances. In addition to that, I already have experience in working in this area as a SubCommie, so I know how these locals work.

You can read her full candidature here. 

Written by Firdevs Çazım, AEGEE-Ankara

If you are looking for a versatile and hungry to learn a person, you can not find any better than Álvaro, who aims to get better every day. He has been really active in Projects Coordinator of the Language Interest Group (LIG) and now he is a candidate for the position of European Citizenship Working Group Coordinator. 

The AEGEEan: Who is Álvaro González Pérez? Could you explain yourself using the initials of your name?

Álvaro:  A: That one is easy, and it will be easily expected, but still I would say AEGEE. In a really short time, AEGEE has really influenced me in a personal and professional level. I got to meet an uncountable amount of people from all over Europe (and beyond) who I today count as very close friends, improved my public speaking skills to the point of debating in front of 200 people and giving workshops, coordinated a group of seven people in a European-level project, attended events in numerous countries… and all this in less than two years.

G:  Germany. I have lived in two different German cities, Osnabrück and Heidelberg, in the first one for my Erasmus and in the second one to work and study the language. Both granted me with some of the best memories in my life.

P: Pilgrim. Not in the religious sense of the word, though. Every person who does the St. James way (Camino de Santiago) is a pilgrim. In my case, I did it two years ago on my own, and it truly was an incomparable experience that marked a milestone in my life, since I regarded it as a metaphor for life itself: on the way you meet dozens of incredible people that you do not know if you will get to see on the way again, and the same applies for the places you get to see.

What is your experience in AEGEE?

I have been a proud member of our network since September 2015. Even though ever since I joined AEGEE I have always attended European Events on a regular basis. It was not until September 2016 when I started to be active in the European Bodies, first by coordinating the European Day of Languages 2016, and secondly as a Project Coordinator of the Language Interest Group. I really enjoyed the experience and that is one of the reasons why I am now running for the coordination of European Citizenship.

What do you do outside AEGEE?

Currently, I am taking a whole year to improve some languages. So until last week I have been living in Heidelberg, until I took my C1 German exam (special shoutout to AEGEE-Heidelberg, without them it would have been way more difficult to get to practice my language skills!), and I just recently moved to Brussels, mainly to do a traineeship in the Committee of Regions of the EU, but also to improve my French (and maybe my Flemish, who knows?). I also take a considerable amount of time to work, which I do online. That is how I am funding my life in Heidelberg and Brussels, in case you were wondering. I also translate and write articles, but (by now) I am not getting paid for it. Regarding my hobbies, I love playing the guitar, reading and writing, so whenever I am able to do so, I take some time for it.

What are your plans, if you are elected as a coordinator of European Citizenship Working group?

As I wrote in my candidature, I have a huge desire to see the numerous thematic conferences that once were the core of AEGEE back in the network. I want to see locals organising events in which experts and professors share their wisdom with us. As members of AEGEE, all of us have some expertise in some specific fields, but we have our limitations, and I want to break them by encouraging events such as the recent conference in Budapest on Civic Education, where professors, experts and different representatives of civil society contributed to turn it into an unparalelled event. On the other hand, I also want to encourage the communication and collaboration between AEGEE locals and other student organisations that focus on topics concerning directly this Focus Area, such as it could be Eurodesk or local organisations related to the sociopolitical reality of their cities/countries.

Why is it important for you to be the coordinator of this group?

On one hand, I genuinely and truly want to see the aforementioned conferences back in AEGEE, so I am basically taking what a good friend of mine from AEGEE-Heidelberg once said: “If there is something in AEGEE you think is not working correctly, do not just speak against it, but work in order to improve it”. On the other hand, since I am going to do my master’s degree in European Studies, coordinating European Citizenship will also be a perfect opportunity to get some practical experience.

Name one good thing and one bad thing of the ECWG as it is now and how you would improve that?
Well the ECWG does not really exist yet, but if the question concerns Spreading Europtimism, let’s say EVERYTHING, starting from having an actual coordinator.

You mention that you like writing travel posts. How did you start to travel and how did travelling affect your skills?

I have loved travelling and have done so since long ago, but I started doing it in the “backpacker” way something like 4 years ago. One important thing I got from my trips is flexibility and pragmatism. When you travel alone with a backpack, unless you are extremely organised, there is always huge room for improvisation. You meet all kinds of different people, and you find yourself in places and situations you do not expect at all. Sometimes you may not like it, and other times you end up loving it, but to reach that conclusion you first have to experience it, and that is undoubtedly the best skill I took out of those travels: the initiative to try new experiences in every aspect of my life.

You can read his full candidature here.

Written by Firdevs Çazım, AEGEE-Ankara