Summer is appoaching and in only few days applications for Summer Universities will close. Writing a motivation letter is always very tiring and sometimes you don’t know what to write, maybe that’s why we keep on putting it off? Therefore here is a guide to help you write a winning motivation letter.  You have already chosen your dream destination for the Summer University of your life. You have successfully logged in (extremely important step) with working username and password from the Intranet. So what to do next?

• Create an IDEA for your motivation letter, which should reflect how passionate your are to participate in this particular SU and not any other. It can be some imaginary story, some personal facts which lead you to this SU, your real experience, a fairytale or an interview. We don’t put limits to your creativity. Be sincere and work on it.

• Why exactly do you want to participate in this Summer University? Is it because you adore W.I.N.E. or just because Dublin has always been on the top of your travel list as you want to find Leprechauns? Maybe you have always been dreaming to be a part of cycling lifestyle, therefore you just NEED to participate in Burgundian Bicycles Vol. III SU? Your Grandma comes from Transnistria and your goal is to go back to your roots? Or you just simply don’t think that a trip to Lake Baikal will be complete without crazy AEGEEans? The key to a successful motivation letter is to explain your real motivation, connected to the topic of the SU (not just “I want to lie on Sicilian beaches”). It may sound too obvious, but that’s the way it is. Decide on the concept of your motivation letter and the best way to express it.

• Be sure your motivation follows a structure. Good news – it is up to you to decide what this structure should look like. However, it is always nice to greet the one who reads your text, to introduce yourself in terms of the topic of the SU, to divide your text into separate paragraphs, connect them with the linking words, to tell some nice stories from your life etc, and to say goodbye in the end. You can establish quite formal structure or to speak to your organisers like to your friends or relatives, if your writing style allows it.

• C for creativity. What about some additions? We believe that every person in the world is really talented. This is a platform to express your talents! You may sing a song, especially if you wrote it for the SU, draw a nice picture connected to the topic, make a photo collage, write a poem, make a video, do infographics, a PowerPoint presentation, a website with funny facts, whatever. Note: adding these things does not guarantee that you will be automatically accepted. Therefore you really should watch the quality of what you send, filter your ideas and follow one concept. For instance, don’t send just an introductory selfie-video: most probably, it won’t be that original for you to be accepted.

• Be concise and try to keep your letter short! Not everyone enjoys reading novels or long films as motivation letters. Time may be the most valuable resource in the world, so be respectful about it – don’t put the same ideas twice and use only those that are worth it.

• If you think your English is not that good… Don’t think so. Most of the participants are not native speakers, therefore, nobody will blame you if you wrote something wrong. However, for better impression you should proofread your text and correct some typos or mistakes. And practice English before the SU! 

• Fun is always a good idea. We all are young generation of amazing Europeans who really value good sense of humour, which is suitable for this informal style of writing.If you include some jokes or funny facts, it will be easier for you to attract people. Take it in consideration especially when you answer the three questions from organisers in the end. But please remember that you shouldn’t include jokes that are too radical or too personal.

• Read your motivation letter once again when you are finished. Not just to check the mistakes, but to answer the question: if you were an organiser, would you accept yourself as participant? If your objective answer is “yes”, then your chances are very high.

Good luck with your applications and enjoy the #summerofyourlife! We hope everyone manages to get a place in the Summer University of their dreams.

Written by Yevgeniya Gagarkina, Summer University Coordination Team

Every year since 1988 young Europeans have been able to have the summer of their lives. All the unforgettable experiences, positive emotions, gained skills, amazing memories and discovered places are possible because of Summer University project, the oldest and probably the brightest project of AEGEE.

This time it is also more possible than ever, so we decided to gather some pieces of advice for you to have the Summer of Your life.

1- Become an AEGEEan. It may sound too obvious, especially for oldies, but this is a fact! Not only because AEGEE is exactly the place where magic (read=what you need in your life right now) happens, but because without the login and password of AEGEE Intranet system you cannot log in to the official website of the project.

2- Go to the official website and check it out, focus on the available destinations for this appealing SUmmer. Here is the link to the list of SUs, but apart from that there is a lot of useful information like discovering the application procedure and general F.A.Q.. Choose the Summer University of your dreams! You just need to listen to yourself and also to play around with the website. It is possible to use different filters – therefore you can sort SUs by topics, dates, prices, type of SU and search by literally everything! So if you come from Italy and you are tired of beaches, interested in countries of vikings, have exams in June and plan to attend the concert of your favorite band in the beginning of August, then your best choice would be SU “Searching for the Nordic Smile”. I searched it “by anything” – it is shown on screen. 

After trying out various search options you should find quite some SUs of your interest. Mark them as favorites for easier observation – you just need to be logged in as it is shown on the screen. You can also browse them as kind of the tiles with pictures or in the table.

3- Prove that you are special – this is essential in writing your motivation. Write something that will attract your best organisers – it needs to be quite relevant to the topic, show your personality and be catchy. Use something which suits you best – write a letter, make a video or photo collage, prepare presentation or use infographic services. You may sing a song or write a diary of how you have been already preparing to the SU all this time. You may tell a personal story or just express your genuine interest to go to this SU. There are no limits to your creativity: we believe you will SUcceed!

4- Apply! Be sure you do it a couple of days before the deadline – it would be very sad to deal with problems of the server, which might not get your application in case of too many people applying. You have to choose from up to three Summer Universities in order of preference and write separate motivation letter for each. If you select only one SU, your motivation letter will go directly to this SU in the preselection stage and it doesn’t matter if this SU has received 30 or 300 applications. On the other hand, if you have selected more than one SU in order of preference, your motivation letter will go to the SU where you will have more chances to get chosen.

5- Check if you need a visa. An essential step to traveling somewhere is visa. Most EU citizens don’t need visas to most countries, however, there are some exceptions as well. This is a very responsible step, arranging documents on time to avoid disappointment.

6- Wait for preselection results – 4th of May the latest. The preselection process will be made automatically by a computer (no human intervention! don’t ask us!) upon the following criteria to make a balanced SU: gender, age, nationality and antenna.

7- Wait for the selection results – 15th of May the latest. You will get a letter to the mail address indicated in your application, don’t forget to check it regularly!

8- Communicate with your best organisers about further steps of having the Summer of Your Life or wait for an Open Call. This year, in case they appear, they will be opened to everyone, so even if you forgot to apply before the deadline or joined AEGEE afterwards, you still have some chances. Although, you must be ready that your dream-SU will be already full, which also doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to enjoy and be amazed – sometimes destiny knows better what we need!

9- Plan your way to and from SU… or don’t do it. As a person, who required visa on my first adorable SU I had return tickets and was happy with this confidence (I was also lucky to buy them with 50% discount which also shows how good is to plan in advance). But a couple of days before the end of the SU my awesome friend from AEGEE-Eindhoven invited me to go to Florence together, saying that she didn’t have return tickets back home. It amazed me so much, of course I easily got excited about this potentially best ending of the SU ever, but for me it was difficult to manage the way back home. So she hitchhiked to Budapest and she went to Sziget festival. 

10- Get ready for the SU according to the organisers’ instructions: look at what to take, what not to take, be sure you have amazing outfits for every party and something to proudly represent the country you come from during European night!

11- Enjoy your SU, people, atmosphere, places and workshops! Don’t be critical and remember that everything depends on you, your mood and attitude. Everything is arranged by young Europeans for young Europeans, so accept some small mistakes and just feel lucky to be a participant of your SU!

12- Get back home and remember this amazing trip forever! Don’t forget to fill in evaluations and share your excitement with everyone.

13- Bonus point – come to Autumn Agora Chişinău in October – the place for the biggest reunion and AEGEE-spirit!

14- Plan the next SUmmer of your life!

As it is said in our official video made by Ralitsa Mikhaylova, if you need a little push – find your SU and apply on aegee.org/su till 25th of April!

Written by Yevgeniya Gagarkina, PR responsible of SUCT 2015-2016

2016 has officially started! Some people now get ready for Orthodox Christmas or still enjoy the New Year events, it is also the time to think about summer 2016, which appeals to be the SUmmer of your life.

Since 1988, thousands of AEGEEans have been enjoying non-typical, mind-blowing vacations during summertime. Exploring, traveling, parties, fun, love, friends, nature – that may be the top assosiations with the name of the project. We are sure that lots of you have participated in SUs – maybe even more than once – and the spirit of AEGEE and Summer University brings you to the next summer to check a new country, new people, new sights, attractions, captions… And the next summer. And the next. Or maybe not.

Some time ago I talked to one girl with whom we went to the only SU I’ve been participant at. I know for sure that she enjoyed our SU so much that she may be willing to reveal this experience. However, when I asked her which Summer University she was applying to, she answered “none” and told me that she wants to see something focusing more on self-development and getting professional skills, and thus she would like to organise one. I was surprised by her initiative and supported the idea very much.

This year, we as SUCT 2015/16 worked quite a lot to develop this concept. There are so many options to cooperate with AEGEE-bodies (find them on our website) that we want to incorporate in every SU. Can you imagine? – Summer University on climate change, Europe’s history or refugees (such an important topic now), management or entrepreneurship, a language Summer Course, healthy eating and lifestyle or Democracy in Practice Summer University, Summer University which deals with project management in AEGEE or a European School Summer University run by professionals from the Academy! What is more, there is an option to organise a Summer University for journalists or future ones. In this variety of options it seems really hard to choose, but when it is done, we cannot imagine how valuable this experience will turn out to be: you will show the secret or most popular sights of your country, will raise the potential of your motivated participants (since they will want to get the skills you have in SU description), will party and become friends with them – we love all of that so much, but there is even more!

Overall, this project is so loved just because it creates an opportunity for everyone to find something that is needed at the moment. Another atmosphere, climate, new places, long-lasting friends or even the love of your life, new skills, new experiences… It is up to you! Even if you just want to lay on the beach, there is the Leisure category of SU this year. We encourage you to plan the SU of your antenna and submit it until 15th of January to change the lives of 20-50 AEGEEans which may become your new family.

P.S. We will be extremely happy if someone from future participants writes us in some time and tells that due to the best Summer University 2016 he got a job or partner of his dreams. We work for you, people, and wish you all the best in the new year.

Join Hangouts with SUCT on the 10th of January, 18:00 CET, where we will answer all of your questions and share some ideas.

Written by Yevgeniya Gagarkina, Summer University Coordination Team 2015-2016

In Autumn Agora Cagliari, the new Summer University Coordination Team was elected. Georgia Grolliou (AEGEE-Thessaloniki) is the new Project Manager, Ioana Duca, Financial Director of AEGEE-Europe, is the Comité Directeur appointed member, Ksenia Lupanova (AEGEE-Moskva) is the publication responsible, Suzan Dilara Tokac (AEGEE-Eskisehir) is the PR responsible and Antonis Triantafyllakis (AEGEE-Heraklio) is the IT responsible. From the 3rd to the 5th of December, they met in Budapest in order to draft the new SUCT outline. Here you can find some of the new ideas they had. 

As this year will be the year of the unusual, SUCT did an unuSUal meeting, which (unlike the others that were hosted in the CD house in Brussels) took place in Budapest – in the center of Europe, city of ravishing bridges and lights. It’s members were running from one event to another and two of them (Georgia and Ksenia) arrived from the PRES in Poznan. The remaining three members (Antonis, Suzan and Ioana)  were getting ready for the Network Meeting in the city. An apartment became the SUCT home and they did not leave it for two whole days in order to prepare for the most unforgettable SUmmer experience for all AEGEEans.

Georgia Grolliou (AEGEE-Tessaloniki), Project Manager

Georgia Grolliou, the project manager, was the last one to arrive and, since it was her birthday just a couple of days before, they threw her a proper SUrprise birthday party. After a nice traditional Spanish dinner and late night talks they drank their milk and went to bed early. The next day started with a famous AEGEE wake-up call by Financial Director and many times SU Coordinator, Ioana Duca yelling “AEGEE Peeople Come oon Noww Leets Goo Pleeassee Come ooon noww!! You are late agaiiinnn!!!!” And the day started with a beautiful breakfast.

Brace yourselves, a new Theme is coming: GREEN SU

Thousands of AEGEEans, from all around Europe, going somewhere in Europe and gathering for 15 days… spending and wasting is unfortunately inevitable. The thing is, how can we minimize this and turn the tables to our favor? By being more sustainable, using green materials and of course raising awareness through workshops and applied activities. You can either choose GREEN SU as your main theme or combine it with another theme, such as Sports + Green or Culture + Green. And yes, it will be a PLUS for you. The Greener your SU becomes, the higher your ranking will be in the evaluation. Everybody will be Green, High and Happy.

Antonis Triantafyllakis (AEGEE-Heraklio), IT responsible

Ready to be a Super Mario

Not only being GREEN, but also other things can give you extra points. SUCT is being very generous and we want to give you a lot of extra points and smiles. More thematic workshops, enriched content, more compulsory sessions (other than the two obligatory ones), and of course our milestone Action Agenda and implementing it to your SUs rewards you with more points. Throughout the year SUCT will be in cooperation with ACT and together we will do our best to ensure the effective implementation of our Action agenda in the SUs. In order to do so, ACT will prepare guidelines for the organizers, including tips, suggestions, workshops and activities to teach people about the Focus Areas and make them ACTive on them…

Last but not least, one of the crucial issues that AEGEEans, the voice of Europe, have to focus on is Disabled Members. We should improve and adjust our activities according to the needs of our members. The SUs which are available for disabled members will be awarded with extra points as well. So get prepare to run around and collect mushrooms (your extra points) while doing amazing things for your participants.

Suzan Dilara Tokac (AEGEE-Eskisehir), PR responsible

Don’t Compete – Be Creative!

Since the idea of giving many many points was well received within the team, another idea was quicly raised: why not give a real award to the ones who deserve it? This year’s extra awards will be for the following categories:

– The GREENest SU

– The Best Interactive Activity

– The Best SU T-shirt Design

So get ready to release the creative thoughts in your mind and pour them into your SUmmer!

Ksenia Lupanova (AEGEE-Moskva), publication responsible

Our Best Companies, Outgoing Responsibles

Their responsibility is of crucial importance, as they are the ones keeping the project alive with their interactive communication with members, attractive presentations about the project and personal charm to motivate members to participate in a SU. The information they will give to the members is highly important, so as not to deviate from the aim of the project. Creating realistic and appropriate expectations in the members’ minds, explaining the real purpose of the project and what is expected from them during an SU are among the essential duties of Outgoing Responsibles.

Having follow up sessions is something the SUCT highly expect from Outgoing Responsibles this year. After the SU period ends and everybody returns to their antennae safe and sound, with lots of unforgettable memories, the Outgoing Responsible should catch those happy thoughts and turn them into productive ideas. OR should meet with the participants so they can share the experience, discuss pros and cons and also to ask how they would like to continue their AEGEE life. As most of the SU participants can tell you, after the project, they came closer to the association and were part of great projects.

Ioana Duca, Financial Director of AEGEE-Europe, Comité Directeur appointed member

 Have you ever participated in a SU? Have you ever wondered about the magic of SU? Do you want to know about SU stories of notable AEGEE people?

A new database is coming! Including more than 100 old/new members of AEGEE who have participated in the SU project which changed their lives and owe all the great work they’ve done for this association to that great SUmmer. Be ready to discover the secrets of SUccessful members and share their experience.

As you read on, these are the core topics of the upcoming year. Is it all? Of course not. New merchandising, guidelines for organizers, helpful workshop ideas, lots of support and fun is waiting for you along the way to the SUmmer 2015. Don’t forget that we are AEGEE, and we never walk alone!

Written by Summer University Coordination Team

Explore. Dream. Discover. 1000 days of summer. These words are something that you have probably seen a lot during the last couple of months in the context of the Summer University Project. The Summer University Coordination Team of 2012 chose this as the motto for the Summer University (SU) 2012, this year’s edition. But you may ask why?

To explore, according to wordreference.com, is to investigate, examine and travel in an unfamiliar area in order to learn about it. To dream is to see or imagine as in a dream; to contemplate as imaginably possible. Discover on the other hand, is to be the first one to find something, to make something known and to reveal it.

SU participants in Peiraias in 2009

Wide range of themes

So how are these three words connected with the Summer University project actually? Well, firstly, by participating in a Summer University you are given the chance to learn something new apart from the usual cultural aspect. Every Summer University has a specific theme around which most activities will revolve. It means that you will be provided with intensive courses on various fascinating topics, such as European integration, environmental protection, photography, dancing, cooking, etc. For instance, participants of the Traveling Summer University of AEGEE-Helsinki and AEGEE-Tallinn “FinEst Design” will have the opportunity to visit unique places and take part in workshops using their own creativity there through a platform of design! Another example is the Summer Course organised by AEGEE-Patra and AEGEE-Peiraias in cooperation with the Information Technology Committee of AEGEE where they are offering a unique dive into the IT systems of AEGEE while tasting the Greek culture. These are just two examples out of the 82 Summer Universities of 2012.

“How you met our country” 

“How you met our country” is the title of the Summer University which will be organised by AEGEE-Santander this year, and indeed a Summer University is an exceptional cultural exchange. You go to a foreign country expecting to find out more about its traditions and people, maybe grasp some vocabulary as well. But in the end you discover with surprise that you are leaving learning a way more than that! During those two weeks you were practicing how to say “good morning” in six different languages, to dance “syrtaki” even though you were in Poland and to sing different songs from all over Europe! You motivate and teach others and others inspire you. You enjoy a lot and at the end they are your friends and every single person in the group share moments they shared and different stories and experiences from their countries and past events.

Before you go, you dream of it. You try to imagine how it will be, which places you will visit and you cannot wait to meet all those new interesting people! When it finishes, you dream about it and you just do not want it to be over. What you really want is a repetition of it!

365 days a year, but 1000 days of summer

“500 days of summer” is a movie title but not the overall inspiration for the theme 1000 days of summer! What does this mean then? Does this mean three years of Summer Universities? No! 1000 days is a sum of all the days of the Summer Universities in 2011. In 2012 it is a little bit more, but anyway the idea remains the same.

Explore. Dream. Discover.
1000 days of summer.

Welcome to a brand new world. Welcome to the world where you will be given the chance to explore, dream and discover. Explore your limits and the unlimited beautiful and inspiring places that exist all around the European continent. Dream about your future; imagine yourself after having experienced a true multicultural exchange. Discover yourself, discover people around you, discover new places. Let yourself try and choose. Choose between 1000 days of summer! Do not miss that!

Written by Hara Kogkou, AEGEE-Peiraias

A couple of weeks ago we started an online survey with the question whether the Summer University Project needs a new logo. For some of you may be out of the blue, but an idea that has been around for some time now.

From the responses we got through our survey or on Facebook people were very much divided on this, and not just divided but also with strong opinions and emotionally expressed. Not strange if you know that the Summer Universities can be life changing and people have great memories and thoughts about them. All triggered by a small smiling sun with a graduation cap on.

Before explaining ourselves first the results. 93 Votes were casted. Out of these votes 51 were in favour of changing the logo (55%). A little less, 42 votes were against changing the logo (45%).

So why did we come up with the idea to have a survey on the logo of the Summer University. As commented wisely by some of you the logo is actually the least to worry about for the SUCT and there are many more important things we have to do. Agreed. But since we like to take on more work and get the Summer University even better we also wanted to address the visual identity and thus the logo of the project. So why? Is the current logo not good enough?

The logo of the Summer University Project since 1997 (or earlier?), 2006, 2010

Since many years the Summer University project has had the sun in one or another way as its logo. Nothing wrong with that, it is funny, takes away the seriousness the projects name creates, and looking at the number of applicants every year it does not seem to be a problem. No problem, so no need to change it you could say. But since our network is slowly changing due to the changing environment AEGEE has to manoeuvre in, there are calls to address issues that do not cause any problems yet. This is also one of the reasons to avoid the dialectics of lead.
This makes me to come to two issues that we need to address. One in general for AEGEE, the second one more specific for the Summer University project:

1. In the upcoming years there is a big chance that AEGEE will see a greatly reduced income from public funds. So new ways have to be found to gain income to keep providing our network with the facilities and services we have built in the last years.

2. New technologies give people not only new ways of communicating, but also cheaper and easier traveling. Compared to 25 years ago, we have many different ways to go abroad. Relatively cheap. AEGEE and the Summer University project are not the only way for us, the youth, to discover the world. So why would we first join AEGEE, go through all the selection process and maybe, or maybe not, end up with a Summer University while you can travel yourself cheap and easy throughout the continent and even further?

These two points are issues we don’t have any traction on. We can’t just ignore them and go ahead the way we have done for the last many years. Since both of them are quite big issues I’ll address the first one in this article, especially because this one was the reason to start with the survey. A later article will discuss the second topic.

Reduced public funds for AEGEE

During last Agora more attention has already been addressed to this subject by the Comité Directeur. Because the question is whether we can still pay for the work of the Comité Directeur in the future, will the house still be paid for by the Commission, what about support for projects or training courses and of course the travel reimbursements to keep in touch with the network. This makes the Comité Directeur look for new ways of raising money, and not only should they do so, but the entire network. Actively or passively by providing ways for private or commercial funding.
As some of you wrote in the responses of the survey, and we only agree on, the Summer University project is maybe the “real flagship” project of AEGEE. It has every year the largest and most widespread attention throughout the European continent. So why not use that properly? So should we not use the Summer University project to raise money for our beloved association, for our great network?

Market research on logos of youth summer schools, universities and local summer camps

As Summer University Coordination team we think we should. But how can we do that? For a start we can sell advertisement space in the booklet, on posters and on our website. To convince possible companies, organisations or other partners to buy that space we do need to look a little professional. Well, one of the many other responses in the survey was that the logo should look more professional and more appealing. That is exactly what we agree on. The current sun is not a logo that would convince potential partners to support this project and therefore AEGEE. The question is whether they would take it serious at all? It is more of a quickly designed logo by a small local organisation trying to organise a summer school or summer camp (see image). And doesn’t the sun maybe portray the image of the Summer University project we don’t want it to have to the external world: sun, sea, party, sex and drugs. Unfortunately, these were actual responses in the survey to the question what associations you have with the Summer University project.

Market research on logos of travel agencies and organisations

If we want to achieve the goal of making the Summer University project look more professional and act by its image as a trustworthy partner for other organisations, it is nice to look at organisations that have the same intention. For example, if we have a look at other travel organisations or organisations (see the image), then there is no smiley or personalised faces to be found in their logos. Why? Because they quickly look childish and not capable to act as a big and important partner. Not for cooperations, not for potential customers. However, to portray they are about traveling there are some other things that do come back often: the shape of the sun, bright various colours, icons of faraway destinations, or icons what they serve you: flights, biking tours, hikes, etc.

If you look at our lovely Sun logo, would you as potential partner cooperate with AEGEE to promote your service and pay lots of money for that? I would not.
So let us prepare for new times, and move forward. What are your ideas for a new logo?

Written by Maurits Korse, AEGEE-Enschede & SUCT 

As Summer comes to an end for most of Europe, all AEGEEans start waiting for the next year and their next Summer University, the new destinations to travel to, the new ideas for SUs, and the new people who will be organizing Summer Universities locally.  Autumn is the time for Summer University Project School (SUPS) that takes place in a city…somewhere around Europe!

SUPS is a training on how to organise a successful Summer University from the very beginning – ideas, organizing team etc., till the very end – implementation and evaluation.

It addresses all the potential organisers and SU coordinators that want to lead the Summer University in their locals. The SUPS is organized by a host local, AEGEE-Academy and the SUCT. This year, it will be hosted by AEGEE-Krakow and it will take place from the 12th till the 19th of November in Krakow, Poland. The deadline to apply is the 2nd of October.

Through interactive workshops, trainings and simulations, the participants can familiarize themselves with the project and its goals converting them to competent organizers not only for the SU but for other events as well. The experienced trainers offer the participants the right tools to understand the mentality and methodology needed to get the best results. Participants will obtain not only organizational skills but they will also know how to deal with unexpected problems before, during or after the event.

written by the SUCT