Can you believe it? AEGEE-Praha has already turned 30! What a number! And to celebrate that special occasion they planned an amazing birthday event. 40 participants from all over Europe joined, and out of my own experience -I was one of them- I can tell you it was a blast. We got to see Praha’s best sights by  foot and by boat, eat delicious Czech food, explore the nightlife and of course celebrate AEGEE-Praha’s birthday with a huge party. The birthday weekend was a full success for sure and the amazing organizers did their best to make it unforgettable. But now, let’s ask Filip Brunclík, the president of AEGEE-Prague, how he and his antenna perceived the celebration.

Happy Birthday AEGEE-Praha! How does it feel like to be 30 and what did you guys plan to celebrate this special occasion?

It feels like an eternity… 30 years is a big deal, and we are really grateful for everyone who ever contributed in making AEGEE-Praha great. During those 30 years many people helped, either as board members or just as helpers to spread the AEGEE spirit. Without every single one of them, we would not be where we are today. To celebrate this occasion, we planned a 4 days long event filled with funny activities, and enjoyed it with 40 participants from all over Europe.

It feels like half of Europe did come to Praha to celebrate this birthday. How much work was it to plan everything?

That’s true… We were really surprised by how many people applied for our event. The planning process was not easy… it was like organizing a short Summer University, but for 40 people, which is a lot to manage. We didn’t even plan to have 40 participants, but after receiving so many applications, we had no other choice but to increase the capacity, and we are happy we did so. Thanks to that we had more fun and met more new AEGEE friends.

 So all the hard work was worth it in the end. 

It was. After the event, many other locals reached us, and wanted to cooperate. Either just having an exchange, or organizing events together. This event was basically the first international event after a long time which didn’t take place during summer, and we were so happy to organize something big after such a long time. It gave us a lot of new motivation and opportunities to cooperate. Too bad you only turn 30 once…

How did the pandemic affect you as an organization and this special event in particular?

We were lucky about this event, since there were no serious restrictions. Only those which didn’t really affect the event, such as vaccination required in restaurantsAnd since everyone was vaccinated, participants probably didn’t even notice there was such a rule.

How much did AEGEE-Praha change in the last three decades? Do you still have an active community full of AEGEE spirit?

Three decades are too much to remember, and even more than most of our members actually are old. But yes, we have an active community full of AEGEE spirit. The pandemic actually showed us how strong of a community we have. When Covid hit us, our members started to organize online game nights almost every day. It was amazing to see that in hard times, they still want to spend time together, and that they will always find a way no matter the circumstances.

What are your plans for the next 30 years? Can you already tell us something about any upcoming events?

We plan to organize Summer University and probably create a new international project… So stay tuned to find out more.

AEGEE-Muğla just elected a new board and we want to introduce the new, motivated, board members and their plans for the AEGEE-community. If you haven’t heard about AEGEE-Muğla yet, now is the time to learn more about the antenna which is located in the Southwest of Turkey.

Hello guys! First of all, congratulations on being elected as the new board of AEGEE-Muğla. Can you tell us about yourselves? 

Sup everybody! I am Atta Rajab, the president of AEGEE-MUĞLA. I am 21 years old and studying Electrical and Electronics Engineering. I joined AEGEE three years ago and I met a lot of awesome people. Joining AEGEE has given me a different perspective and made me experience stuff I never knew that I needed to experience. For example, I am managing the design and PR of our antenna. Also, I like jogging as a way to relieve stress. So, if you see me running outside don’t stop me because I could be either after a new record or so pissed off that I would take it out on you ( JK). I speak three languages and I still can’t find enough words to express myself so that’s all I’m gonna say for now.

 Hello, my name is Onur Bektaş, I am 21 years old Computer Engineering student and the secretary of AEGEE-MUĞLA. As part of AEGEE-MUĞLA I met a lot of good friends and got great opportunities so far. AEGEE is like a family for me. One big passion of mine is basketball. Also, I am a huge anime boy and it’s like another world to me. But most importantly, I am a huge F1 fan.

Hi! I am Cansu Cangüven. I am 23 years old and a Medical Student. In addition, I am the HR responsible of AEGEE-MUĞLA. I have been a board member since last year and being  part of AEGEE makes me overjoyed because it brought me precious memories. That is why my nickname is Joy. Also, I’m the biggest fan of the TV series called How I Met Your Mother. I keep making references to it all the time and sometimes it annoys people. Other than that, I love painting, Sudoku, Yoga and meditation. So, I’m not gonna ask you “Haaaveee you met Cansu?”, because: Yes, you just did.

Hello there. My name is Mevce Abatay. I am 21 years old, studying nutrition and dietetics and the treasurer of AEGEE-MUĞLA. I joined AEGEE about three years ago because of my desire to travel abroad. But after participating in some events, I realized that AEGEE is much more than that: I made great friendships and I developed myself. As you can probably guess from my studies, I enjoy discovering new dishes and making them healthier. Also, I love doing sports outdoors. It gets hard to do this in Muğla in winter though. The weather is constantly rainy and cold like London. 

AEGEE-Muğla is one of our Turkish antennas. But that is simply not enough to define it, right? What makes your antenna special? 

What makes AEGEE-MUĞLA special is that it creates a very friendly atmosphere. The participation rate in the local activities is very high and we can see that people are enjoying it. We became a really big family.

Do you have a mascot? Tell us about your fluffy friend!

Shelly, our mascot and the fluffiest member of our family is a Caretta-Caretta turtle. They have habitats in Muğla and are an endangered species that needs to be protected. Shelly attends all our events and we are sure that she’s having a lot of fun with us.

What are your plans for the next term? Are you going to continue some ongoing projects and do you already have ideas for new ones? 

We are planning on organizing many social activities and social responsibility projects in Muğla. Also, we want to organize a European-level event in cooperation with an environmental project that we always wanted to do. You will probably hear about it in our next term. Our main goal is to expand our family and to convey the spirit of AEGEE to more people. We plan to continue our speaking clubs.

We all had a rough year during the pandemic and many antennas really suffered. How did AEGEE-Muğla manage?

Pandemic conditions have hit us all hard. Even though we couldn’t catch the crowd in Muğla, we continued organizing our speaking clubs through online platforms every week. Furthermore, we organized an online LTC with AEGEE-IZMIR… We had to keep the team spirit alive! 

Anything else you wanna share with the whole AEGEE-network? 

We just want to thank the AEGEEan for this interview, keep in touch for news about us. See you somewhere in Europe!