Last term there was a female speaker, and a large number of female representatives in the Network Commission. Then at the Agora Enschede we saw that this tendency would most likely continue with the division of eight female and two male candidates for the Network Commission. In the end six out of the eight ladies were elected and if you would like to get to know them a little bit better then you should have a look here.

Tika Kukhianidze – Will she bribe the Network with chocolate?

To get to know Tika one should understand that despite her young age she has founded her own handmade chocolate company, so The AEGEEan asked Tika about how it all began: “It began very simply – we just thought why not to have a chocolate shop (without any specific image of that). Almost three years passed after that moment – those years were full of ups and downs, a lot of happy moments along with situations when we felt completely lost, demotivated, disappointed. But it was interesting and still is. I wouldn’t say that we are extremely successful by now already – there is a lot to work on and improve. But we created our own working environment that gives a lot of freedom in terms of ideas and creativity. Now I have totally different view on entrepreneurship, than I had three years ago when I was graduating.” However, this does not seem to prepare Tika for her presentation at the Agora. She was, as most likely everybody else, very nervous but her advice is to think of something really enjoyable and funny. At least that turned her mind to the positive mode, enabling her to enjoy doing the presentation.

Karolina Mazetyte – the front leader of the Northern antennae

She was the founder of AEGEE-Kaunas, but her wish to do great work for AEGEE in the North goes beyond “her” Lithunanian local since she was recently elected as Network Commissioner as well.  Funny thing is that she was thinking about her outfit during the presentation of the Agora because of how nervouse she found herself to be “I was doing a presentation in front of so many people for the first time in my life, so it was really scaring! I was joking that it was a good decision not to wear tight trousers, so people couldn‘t see, how my legs were shaking. But it was a great experience and I know that the next time I wouldn‘t be so nervous anymore.”  There are many reasons why Karolina chose the Network Commission as she describes it as one of the most lively, interactive and closest to the locals body in AEGEE which never sleeps. Working for the Nework Commission she gets motivated more and more everyday and despite all the required time and energy she thinks that it is definitely worth it. What excites her even more is the great team behind the Network Commission, and furthermore that she will be working with the Northern antennae “The Nordic Stars” which are the antennae belonging to area where she is from, her home, and from where she is eagering to see a fruitfull collaboration and making AEGEE strong and visible in the area

Olia Yushchenko – “I like it, like it, Jamón!”

Olia Yushchenko from AEGEE-Kyiv joined the Network back in 2010 and has been active ever since, completely in love with AEGEE for many reasons but most of all for people, who are here. There is nothing better than to be surrounded by ambitious and active people who are following their dreams and making them true making her sound as a perfect Network Commissioner ready to “serve and protect”. Intially she was planning to become a scriptwriter but she smiles saying “life is life” and it is a proof that life for sure has its peculiarities when a person longing to become a scriptwriter is now passing her last exams to get a Bachelor degree in Banking and Financing. Besides not being from AEGEE-Zaragoza she admits to be addicted to chesse and jamon and is not so fond of everything having a sweet taste. Two facts important about Olia is that she admits to talking a lot, that her friends sometimes suffer from that fact, and that six years of her life previously was dedicated to dancing career, attending competitions of hip-hop. These might be the reasons that Olia stands out when saying she felt comfortable speaking in front of the Agora, “Talking in public is not my day-by-day activity but I definitely like doing it. Anyway don’t feel uncomfortable or scared and ready to make as many presentations as its necessary! And that’s totally different point of view, to watch the Agora from the other side of the stage. Interesting thing by the way!” Another thing she is confident is the potential of the ladies of AEGEE when asked what she thinks about the large number of representatives especially on European level “That demonstrates that we have A LOT of amazing, clever and talented girls! Guys, don’t miss a chance.”

Carol Bello Marín – The new leader for “la tripulación”

Now Carol maybe did not attend Agora Enschede but most people will remember her for being main organiser of the Agora Alicante last spring. However, being a biology PhD student, running long duration experiments, made it impossible for her to attend the Spring Agora of 2012, “Let’s say the animals I am working with needed me at that time,” Carol describes it.

So when not being able to go Carol had to leave the responsibility to Fernando Campo Gomez, president of AEGEE-Santander, but she was completly confident in doing so. “Well, since some years now, we succeeded not to create only a group of subcommies, but a real team that elaborates as one planning for our region, new events, etc. So we are used to share responsibility and I trusted Fernando 100% and the other subcommie to present truly who I am, as they know me well and helped me to design my candidature! Moreover, I already left in Fernando’s hands the responsibility of presenting the Agora Alicante just one year before, so I was very sure he could do a great job, and he did: I mean, Fer was very funny saying “hi, I’m Carol Bello”!! This is totally the spirit of the team!! Work seriously but also be friends and share good feelings with other AEGEEans. I have to admit that, even if he doesn’t feel really confident on stage, I really trust him because he always supported me, now was my turn! Good teams support each other, even in uncomfortable situations. So, for me they were perfect and simply awesome.”

Despite not being able to be at the Agora, Carol joined the event somehow through following it online. She actually got so happy and excited about being chosen for NetCom and winning the AEGEEans’ Choice Award for the best event with the Agora Alicante team that she ended up shouting and running on the street.

Many people would say that it is a big task to “take over” such region after future president Luis Alvarado Martinéz, and Carol also decribes this task as huge! Making her proud to get the chance continue the previous work with subcommies who was included in the past team “My Knowledge Transfer included several active members in the package! I really believe in this structure, I mean subcommies that are close to their antennae. That’s the key to keep AEGEE growing. “

Ana Dragic – basketball medalist and Network Commisioner

Most of you already know Ana Dragic, and her high number of “likes” on the “Ana Dragic for NetCom” Facebook page and the large amount of votes at the Agora proves that the Network trusts this lady. She could not unfortunately attend the Agora because she has been playing for the basketball team of her faculty for four years and the final tournament was at the same time as the Agora. Paul Smits from AEGEE-Enschede was the person who took the responsibility and Ana explains the situation as this: “As no one from experienced members from AEGEE-Beograd went to the Agora, I started thinking about my friends from other locals. Paul came to my mind as we are very good friends, he is familiar with my work and I just knew that he would do a great job presenting me. I didn’t suspect at any moment that he might not be perfect, and at the moment when he came on stage I felt like I was there. He did a great job!” So while following the Agora and playing Basketball at the same time Ana also learned the rest of the results, such as the large number of ladies elected but Ana doesn’t see female domination as something to be worried about , “Well I noticed that in other commissions and in CD that the number of female/male elects are more or less equal, but yes, in the NetCom six girls were elected this time. I guess that the time comes when girls are more active and interested in contributing to the Network of our association, so I don’t see it as something standing out,” Ana smiles.

Wieke van der Kroef – the new Speaker of the Network Commission

You have probably seen her asking questions during statutory in the past, which is probably the reason why a) she felt quite comfortable when doing her presentation and b) she is elected Speaker of the Network Commission. What is the recipe for speaking in front of 700 people? “I just told myself this would only take slightly longer then asking a question on stage, which I had done before. And it did in the end, time flew by, I still have the feeling my presentation took less time than any other but that might be because I wanted to tell more about my ideas.” Maybe it is all the experience that keeps Wieke calm, she was working on the pre-event Utrecht/Amsterdam before Agora which she describes as nice but hard becasue she was quite exhausted after being in the AEGEE-Amsterdam board for a year. Futhermore, she was also preparing a proposal before the Agora, working on a flagship topic and preparing to be a delegate at the Agora, so it is clear that Wieke is experienced in handling a lot in the same time, and she sure is good at it too! As Ana, she did not really realise the large number of elected ladies, saying: “I did not even realise the large number of elected females before pointed out. If it reflects anything I would say it reflects that either the Agora thinks these were the best candidates or that there were a lot of females with a lot of friends in AEGEE. As always I just hope the best people were elected, whether those are male or female.”

How did it feel being elected by the Agora?

Tika: This Agora was really emotional and at the same time stressful for me, because of all famous events going on and of course because of me being a candidate. At the final plenary I was completely empty, not feeling or acknowledging anything. I realized the results a bit later while getting all the congratulations, especially from people that had been supporting me for some time already.

Ana: Just one hour before the results were announced I won the golden medal with my team, after that I ran to watch the live stream with my best friends, I can not describe those feelings in those moments… That was definitely my day!

Karolina:  That moment was really one of the best moments in my life, full of emotions, happiness, and joy. I was so happy when I sawmy name in the list of elected people that I didnt know who else was elected in the first minutes. Such moments make worth all your hard work, sleepless nights you spend and time you dedicated to the organisation.

Carol: Very exciting!! It was a pity I couldn’t be there. Feeling the support of the Agora gave me a boost of motivation! Actually, it was a great moment when the results of the elections of the voting were announced

Olia: Of course happy! Thats the moment when you realise that all the efforts done before, worth it, and that’s the beginning of one more amazing page of your life. Amazing feeling, full of expectations and inspiration.

Wieke: I had faith I would be chosen, but I cannot lie and say I wasn’t nervous in the end. I remember not even seeing who else was elected until I got to the stage and saw the others.

Preparing for Netcom meeting Katowice

When asked about if the girls have started working with the Network Commission the answer is a clear “yes”. Koen Berghuis grabbed everybody directly after results was announced, and they went to a meeting in which the experienced NetCommies gave advices. Examples on work already done is Wieke, who stayed two days extra with her team in Enschede to write the work plan, alongside getting knowledge transfer from Koen, visiting some locals already, and starting on working on the Netcom Meeting which will take place in Katowice in the second weekend of June, which especially Carol & Ana are looking forward to because then they’ll meet the rest of the team and get to know each other.

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

At Agora Enschede we saw how many ladies were selected. You may wonder who these ladies are and this article will give you a deeper insight Anna Gots who is moving to Brussels in August to take over the position as Financial Director. 

The lady who is going to make dealing with numbers FUN

Anna Gots is the new Financial Director, and she is most definitely not new to AEGEE, and points out that her best moments in AEGEE so far have been the Fall Agora Kyiv 2009, her Summer University “How Creative UA” 2010, and being in the Audit Commission Skopje-Enschede. However, despite being used to “dealing with a crowd”, having spoken in front of many people numerous times in the past, she still got nervous at Agora Enschede. Describing how it was to stand in front of the Agora she says: “It was very terrifying! It is actually quite strange since I got used to the stage in general. Moreover, I even did a report to the Agora the day before, thus experienced the audience already. Therefore, I blame the overall stress accumulated and realization of the huge importance of that exact moment for making me too nervous then. Thankfully, the audience happened to be very tolerant with me and supported me a lot! So, I do promise that my next presentation to the Agora will be more confident and calm!”

Anna was the only candidate for Financial Director, and she does agree that having no contenders made her feel a bit more secure than the other candidates, but on the other hand, it made her try even harder to prove that she should be elected for this position not because she was the only one running for it, but because she is worthy of it.

Preparing for Brussels

She describes the first minutes after the result announcement as a euphoria of delight and relief, but she also remembers it as becoming aware of the fact that in that instance her life had been changed dramatically and the biggest challenge has just been accepted. She started preparing her move to Brussels already, which can seem a bit too soon for some, but there sure are a lot of things to be done:

1. Announcing it to the boss, check!

2. Applying for the Certificate of Good Conduct from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, one of the most time-consuming in terms of preparation of documents for visa application, check!
(Among all other requirements she also has to prove that she is a decent, law-abiding citizen)

3. As well as all the other newly-elected CD members, engaging herself in a series of important and interesting discussions about the upcoming term, check!

Getting ready to walk down the aisle

Besides preparing for Brussels, Anna is preparing for a wedding as well. The wedding of one of her best friends who is getting married this summer. She is absolutely in love with the preparation, loving to be able to see her beloved ones happy, and of course glad to share that happiness with them! “Moreover, it is certainly great that both of us are facing some serious changes in life at the same time, it keeps us together even more and makes us even more excited about the nearest future,” Anna says with a smile.

Working with the Audit Commission

Having a past in the Audit Commission should make Anna’s life as Financial Director easier. Furthermore, Anna is already very good friends with the President of Audit Commission (AC), Esperanza Rodriguez Medina, who had nothing but kind words to share about Anna. “We barely knew each other when we were elected together in Skopje. It was a great coincidence that we were flying back on the same plane and shared some hours of scale in Prague. We started talking and I knew right there that we would have a great AC term.
I think we really have a connection. We are very similar in many ways, we share a lot of thoughts. We just understand each other perfectly! We never had a disagreement because any time one of us had a different opinion, she made the other see her point of view very easily. Furthermore, we also complemented each other very well in terms of task division. I just cannot explain it, but everything was going so smoothly! I never thought two people that were born so far away (hot Las Palmas vs. cold Kyiv) could understand each other so perfectly. And after this time, now we share one of those friendships that you want to keep forever. Even if this opinion is really subjective, I can be objective too. She is a really hard worker, very organised and perfectionist. She really cares about her job and is committed to AEGEE, so she has been preparing herself for the FD position even before she was sure about running for it. And another very good quality of hers is that she is not afraid of asking when she does not know something, and she learns very fast. I can assure you that AEGEE money will be in very good hands in the next CD term!”

AEGEE is a bit feministic isn’t it?

The large number of elected ladies made The AEGEEan wonder what is going on, and what the elected ladies think about it. For Anna it comes as no surprise. “For me AEGEE has been associated more with the female community from the very beginning, since it is not a secret that in our area the number of the female AEGEE members has been dominant for years, among the board members as well.And as the northeast part of our Network is becoming more and more active on European level, it might also trigger some tendencies typical of it.”

Anna acknowledges that there are a lot of great women out there, and she respects them for their achievements and their attitude towards life. However, when asked if she has any female idols, the answer was no, but she does add that “Right off the bat I can name Coco Chanel for being different, and most importantly not being afraid of being different; but also influencing and encouraging the other women not to be afraid either.”

Stay tuned to The AEGEEan for more information about the ladies of AEGEE!

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

“Hi I am not Espe, I don’t have big…” Alberto Cuesta Noriega pointed at his chest when doing the presentation of Esperanza Rodriguez Medina for the Audit Commission (AC) at the Agora Enschede. However, the real Esperanza was in fact elected for Audit Commission. So for the ones who did not meet her at the Agora, and the ones who would like to get to know a bit better, The AEGEEan suggests you to take a look here.

Unfortunately, you could not be at the Agora the first couple of days, why is that?

Currently, I am taking part in a very prestigious but demanding program of the Spanish government. Every year, around 4.000 people fight for 230 places. Those 230 get a grant for doing a Master in International Management and the best 180 afterwards get an internship in a Spanish embassy somewhere around the world. The opportunities are amazing, but you are being assessed for the ranking constantly, so the rules are also very strict. I had an exam that meant 10% of my final grade on the 4th of May. They don’t make any exceptions, so if I had missed it, I would have been out. You can’t imagine how sad I have been when I have got to know about the date of the exam, but I needed to go to Agora at least for the last day! I was driving Anna and Tim crazy the days before, because I wanted everything to be perfect and I was working a lot with them for all Audit Commission’s presentations. And also I was watching the streaming, reading the tweets, asking people on WhatsApp and texting Anna every day. Then, I had only one full day of the Agora, but it was a very intense one.

Alberto Cuesta Noriega who made the presentation for Esperanza

How did it feel to leave the responsibility of making your presentation to Alberto Cuesta Noriega?

I met Alberto during EBM-Riga and we became friends after meeting again in other events. Then, he moved to Madrid and we lived together for almost three months, so he saw all the work that I was doing. After that, we keep seeing each other often, so he knows me very well. I was sure he would do his best to represent me. Anyways, since I had the video to present myself, he didn’t have to do much. I was talking to him by WhatsApp during questions round (the streaming wasn’t working at that moment) and he was supposed to call me and put me on speaker to reply questions, but eventually, there were no questions for me!

Do you think he did a good job?

I wanted to kill him when I was told he made a joke about not being me… but yes, I have no complaints and I’m very grateful!

You had a quite good video, how did you come up with the idea and was it hard filming it?

I have always tried to make my presentations a bit different, because I want to change the image that the Audit Commission (AC) is just about boring people. I thought that not being there was a flaw, but I decided to turn it into an advantage! So I planned to do a similar presentation as the ones I did before, but adding some sketches on it.

Esperanza likes a little fun too

About Turati’s call, I don’t know, I was talking to him at some point and the idea came to my mind.

The whip part had another source – I was talking to Chema Rueda Marin, from AEGEE-Zaragoza, and he dared me to include his antenna in my candidature presentation somehow. I don’t know how the exact idea came to me, but I just visualized it!

Recording it wasn’t very hard. The introduction was the worst part; I repeated it like five times until I liked it. But all the others worked at the first or second take. I guess it helped me that I have acted several times in small plays during high school and university. But specially, I had a great team helping: Juan (AEGEE-Madrid), Larita and Sara (AEGEE-Burgos) and Alberto. Actually, the hardest was the post production and adding subtitles, it took a lot of time for Juanola (AEGEE-Oviedo).

What is your motivation to keep going with the work of the Audit Commission?

When I decided to candidate for the first time, I really wanted to improve things in AC work, and after one year, I keep the same spirit and level of motivation! I was very glad that we made such a great team with Anna Gots and Tim de Jong, and even if some ideas looked crazy at the beginning, we took all the challenges together. Of course it meant a lot of work, I think some people are still surprised that we actually made it, so we are very proud of it.

However, even though the results were amazing, doing something that involves a big change can’t work perfectly the first time. We realised about a few things that can be improved for the future and just some Knowledge Transfering sessions may not be enough. I didn’t really want our work to be lost and both, former AC and candidates, agreed that it would be better to have some continuance. Furthermore, there is some work in progress I feel committed to and I still have some ideas that I didn’t have time to implement yet.

How was it being elected by the Agora, how did you feel?

Joy after the announcement of the results

What can I say? It was awesome to get such a big support! I knew I was the most experienced candidate and many people approached me to tell me they loved my video. But still sometimes I can be very insecure. I was afraid some people may consider my video not serious enough, or that some people may have seen as irresponsible the fact that I didn’t attend the whole Agora (it could look like I didn’t care, when it was exactly the opposite)… So I was really amazed when I saw the results! I just wanted to go and hug everyone!

And of course, I feel that I have a great responsibility: I need to keep working harder than ever not to let all these people down!

What do you think about the large number of female candidates that were elected at the Agora? What does it demonstrate in your opinion?

I have worked or heard about the work of many of these women and they are all outstanding. I believe that they all deserve their positions.

Thankfully, the society has changed a lot regarding sexism, but there is still a lot of work to be done, especially in some regions (and of course, much more outside Europe). But the truth is that nowadays there are more and more women in universities, and since AEGEE is representing students, it makes perfect sense that there are more and more women running for positions in it. I also believe that it’s giving a great example towards externals and it’s only proving that in the future, we will finally live in an equal world.

Do you have any female idols? Do you look up to any female personality? (If yes, who and why?)

I look up to remarkable people for their specific actions, but I try not to focus my attention in one person, nor female, nor male. However, if I had to choose one, I would say Christine Lagarde (the President of the International Monetary Fund).

In general, I admire every woman that has achieved something in what used to be “men’s world” such as female CEOs and CFOs. Especially in the field of finances. I think women have proved to be as valid as any men, or even more. AEGEE is a good example of this, since there have been many female Financial Directors and Audit Commissioners. But still, this world is tricky for women and I cannot understand why women are worse paid than men for the same positions… So I admire all those women that fight everyday for this, making the path easier for the next generations.

The AEGEEan is sure that Esperanza is going to be one of those women making a difference as well!

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

The AEGEEan Team meeting in Agora

In my previous Agorae, visitors used to tell me how great it was to be a visitor in a statutory event, without any obligations. Late wake-up, breakfast, maybe some sightseeing, maybe a plenary, lunch, catching up with old friends, dinner, and party till the morning. It never sounded appealing to me, and I replied by saying that I would not miss plenaries and prytania as they are the most interesting parts of Agora, when you can really feel the heartbeat of the organisation.

However, this Agora for me was as busy as the previous ones despite the different status. Maybe it was because of my experience? Maybe it would be different for somebody who was there for the very first time? I do not know, but I do remember the lists of things to do – plenaries, standing in the question line every now and then, counting ballot papers for the elections and voting, assisting in a workshop, catching up with friends, making sure not to miss some meetings (and missing them anyway), and so on… Luckily I did not miss lunch or dinner, really appreciating the benefit of being a visitor!

Sum up?

Benefits for visitors

– Always on time for lunch and dinner

– Partying as late as you want

– No need to queue for registering your local or for entering/exiting the plenary

– No need to attend prytania

– Your own choice which workshops and prytania to attend

– Time for sightseeing / sleeping / catching-up with friends

Disadvantages for visitors

– With Yvonne Antonovic (AEGEE-Utrecht and AEGEE-Beograd) being the Chairperson, no promises that you will be allowed to ask questions in plenaries (lack of time)

– Being your own boss and deciding for yourself what to do. Could be problematic if you do not like making decisions

– Cannot be with your friends who are delegates or envoys all the time as they will most likely have a hundred meetings to attend

Written by Anita Kalmane, AEGEE-Ogre

The last day of Agora Enschede was eventful. Not only because of the fact that the results were revealed but also because the diplomas were handed over to the winners of The AEGEEans Choice Awards, two new Working Groups were approved by the Agora, and the day ended quite late, maybe a bit too late in accordance with the expectations of the organisers.

After the results were revealed, hugs were exchanged among the 700 participants, and most participants rushed to dinner, in order to be able to rush to the gym to shower and prepare for European Night. A European Night that will be remembered for many things, but for the Spanish participants the brightest memory of that night will be the outdoor party they managed to start.

Too little too late

Rumors have been going around that the Spaniards were denied access to the club which led to them starting the above mentioned party. There is some truth in that but also some things that need to be clarified. Alvaro Espinosa, who was one of the participants in the outdoor party, and one of the representatives of the Spaniards helped us clarify the situation. He was among the ones who believed that scheduling the European Night on the last night of the Agora should not be repeated. It is common that the last day is long: long plenaries, plenty of celebration of the results, and combining that with having to rush to dinner, shower and party is in some people’s opinion not a good combination. However, that is what happened. The last plenary ended at around 21 or 21.30 and then the preparations for the party started. After preparing for the party, the Spaniards left the gym to enter the club, at 23.00 o’ clock instead of 22.00 which had been announced. They were then told that they could not enter the club with the 10+ liter of Sangria that they had brought because there was no more space for alcohol inside.

Never denied access

It is important to stress that the participants were of course never denied access to the party; they were simply told that they could not enter the party with the amounts of alcohol that they had brought so they had to leave it outside. In order not to throw it away, they started the party outside. Nice music from the ongoing festival next to the club provided a great atmosphere, and soon the Spaniards were joined by German and Polish representatives who could not enter with their alcohol either. After a little while the clubbers heard about the sangria and joined the outdoor party creating an “extra” European Night outside with participants from Finland, Denmark, Spain, Macedonia, Poland, Germany, Greece, Turkey and much more.

A Split European Night

So despite managing to have fun outside the European Night, this did create issues for the participants of the Agora. As Alvaro Espinosa answered to the question regarding whether or not the organisation prevented him from enjoying the European Night: “Well, I missed half of the party so yes, it could have been better if everybody were able to bring their drinks inside the club. In addition, that night was really cold so people there really tried hard to make a good party. The point is that the organisation has to plan these kind of things, you cannot do this when people already bought and brought all the drinks from their countries. We had a fantastic night, but you cannot split people and leave some outside the club. Even if they did not deny access, it was obvious that people were not going to leave their drinks outside and go inside – that would not be a real European Night if half of the people tried to introduce their countries without their products.”

Hard to find a place for European Night

Anybody who has previously organised an event probably knows that finding a club to host it, allowing people to use the space of the club, asking to get specific music played and even bringing alcohol on their own is a difficult task. The organisers of the Agora found “Vesting Bar”, or VB in short. The owner of VB agreed for European Night to be organised at this place, but of course there were conditions. The first was that he required the organisers to try to limit the amount of alcoholic drinks brought by the participants. The second was that the participants’ alcoholic drinks should be removed by 23:30. Both make good sense if one were to see things from the perspective of the VB owner.

The participants already knew

One of the organisers Bart Koornwinder explained that he and the rest of the organising team felt that they did everything they could to very clearly communicate these limitations towards the participants. It was first pronounced at the closing plenary. Later in the gyms the intercom was taken in use, stressing that all the participants including German, Polish and Spaniards were aware of the limitations of that evening. When explaining what happened with this particular situation Bart says this: “Until 23:00 we were very lenient with the amount of alcoholic drinks brought in. Only after 23:15 participants with alcohol on them were denied access. This was because the owner of the VB told us to do so. The reason is that these participants were extremely late and were carrying shopping bags full of alcoholic drinks. They broke both ‘rules’; they had too much alcohol on them, and they would never be capable to drink everything within the given time.”

At the same time when that was happening, the organising team started cleaning up the European Night. No drinks were confiscated but instead the organisers helped the participants decant their drinks into plastics cups. This way they could finish their drink, without the VB’s employees knowing.

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

AEGEE-København members asked me before I headed off to the Agora if I had been a delegate before at a statutory event. Despite being my second Agora, Agora Enschede was the first time that I was a delegate for AEGEE-København. My antenna tried to prepare me but there is no way they could have ever prepared me for Agora Enschede.

Wake up in the morning looking like…

This being my second Agora and yet another AEGEE event to add to the list, I already knew it consisted of waking up early in the morning after just a few hours of sleep. The very first day of the Agora was eventful for me. I started out by hitchhiking from Amsterdam to Enschede with people from the pre-event, then I was overwhelmed with the excitement of seeing familiar faces all over the place, and then getting ready for the first party.

You know you have to wake up early in the morning, right?

All these familiar faces approached me, first of all to catch up, but also to let me know that I had to wake up early in the morning. This was due to the task of being the AEGEE fair manager, which required me to rise and shine at 6 in the morning. After having more people that I can count on my hands reminding me of this, I decided to head back to the gym and sleep. I must have been beyond exhausted because I did not hear at all when people returned to the gym from the party, but little did I know that this exhaustion was nothing compared to what would hit me the forthcoming days and after the Agora.

Registering and picking up ballots

AEGEE-København had prepared me for the task of registering myself, obviously, but also the antenna. That I had already experienced at the EBM so I knew the process of answering questions such as “Who is your Network Commissioner?” “Are you a board member?” “How much is the membership fee of your local?” etc. In addition to that I was to pick up the voting ballots for AEGEE-København, which went smoothly as well.

La gente está muy locaaaaa, what the ****?

In the evening it was time for the roll call. During the day people had been practicing, whispering in the corners with smiles of excitement for being the ones remembered for their roll call at the Agora. However, Agora newbies seemed confused about what was going on. Roll what? And despite the effort of trying to explain what it is, I think it is one of those things that you have to witness before you understand. Being a member of both AEGEE-Madrid and AEGEE-København I situated myself amongst all the Spanish locals. We were getting ready to scream and sing for AEGEE-Madrid but I did not have anything special planned for introducing my Danish local. In lack of guts of doing something extraordinary, alone, in front of 700 AEGEEans, I chose to just stand up, say “present” and smile whenever Yvonne Antonovic called my local. A few locals afterwards it was time for AEGEE-Madrid. One Argentinian girl, one Danish girl and a bunch of Spaniards stood up and started screaming “Yoli, la gente está muy loca,” and I suppose the audience very fittingly thought “What the ****?” but also started cheering along.

“I have never seen the Agora this silent”

However, the cheers, smiles and laughter faded quickly after the announcement of Vote of Confidence by the Comité Directeur. As I recall a person said “I have never seen the Agora this silent,” and it was in fact quite a sight seeing 700 people almost afraid to take a breath in fear of being too loud. Despite being a first-time delegate, I am quite active in AEGEE, so I was lucky to know what the CD is and I have profound knowledge of what they already do in Brussels. However, this was an Agora with so many people, and there were a lot of newbies that had no clue what was going on. This was most definitely visible in the voting session where stress spread amongst the people in the room, questions were raised (some several times) and it was not an easy task for organisers, the Chair Team and the Juridical Commission (JC) to try to control the situation.

No food

The numerous questions, the attempt to describe the voting procedure, the division of boxes ready for the ballots, all this of course took time. Unfortunately for the organisers, it took too much time, which made them unable to serve dinner to the delegates. However, they did make an effort to feed the hungry participants who were looking at colorful papers rather than delicious food. In the end voting was done and the delegates rushed back to the gym getting ready for the party while the Chair Team, JC, and kind vote counters headed off to start calculating who had received the vote of confidence and who had not.

VIP bus to the center

So there was food provided by the organisers to the delegates but they did manage to get a discount on Turkish kebab for the participants at a local place in the city which the delegates reached after taking the VIP (party) bus to the city center of Enschede. People got food, and also smiles after seeing Turkish participants guiding them to the local place, which was a flashback to EBM Izmir to some.

In the end, nobody could have ever prepared me for this Agora. The first two days were only the beginning of an experience that will be a memory of a lifetime for better and for worse.  Some details may be placed in the wrong connection, wrong day, but this only proves how difficult it is to describe what exactly happened because to this date, despite having slept countless hours and regaining energy after the Agora, I still have difficulties answering some of the questions: who, what, why?

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

Pictures courtesy of Léa Charlet, AEGEE-Paris

Five members of the Comité Directeur (CD), Marko Grdošić, Gizem Karsli, Jüri Kirpu, Elena Antova and Guillermo García Tabarés, asked for a vote of confidence against Alfredo Sellitti, President of AEGEE-Europe at the opening plenary of Agora Enschede.

As everybody already knows, this year’s Spring Agora is taking place in the Dutch city of Enschede. For you The AEGEEan interviewed the Mayor of the city Mr. Peter den Oudsten. Here are some brief information he shared with us: 

The AEGEEan: What was your first reaction when you were told about a student event that could bring more than a thousand students from all over Europe to Enschede?

Peter den Oudsten: Great! We have more than 22.000 students in our city. We are used to a lot of youngsters who give our city its lively character.

The AEGEEan: What positive effects do you think the Agora will bring to your city? And to your country?

Peter den Oudsten: Enschede is an international city with more than 160 nationalities within the population. I hope that sustainability and solidarity will be the key for mutual understanding of all the participants of the Spring Agora Enschede.

The AEGEEan: On the other hand, what will the students who attend this Agora benefit from?

Peter den Oudsten: Enschede is a lovely city, especially during springtime. All the visitors can enjoy its beautiful surroundings. The students can also enjoy the activities on the campus.

The AEGEEan: One of the issues that will be treated at the Agora is youth unemployment. Statistics like Eurostat state that the Netherlands is the country with almost the lowest youth unemployment rate in Europe. Could you give an example of successful policies where your city hall was involved?

Peter den Oudsten: We help youngsters who have no job with courses. You go to school or you find a job.

The AEGEEan: A cultural aspect your country is very proud of is tolerance towards other nationalities, ethnicities, sexual minorities and religions, and that is also one of the focus areas of AEGEE. What do you think about this issue? If possible give an example of what the city has achieved in the past.

Peter den Oudsten: The situation with the Jewish people in Enschede during World War II is what we call the Twente paradox. Because Jewish inhabitants suffered during the beginning of the war, the inhabitants of Enschede experienced the true character of the German army. So people took measures. A lot of people helped to hide Jewish people. This is an example of what we call in the local language “Noaberschap”. People in Enschede try to become real neighbours; people who look at each other.

The AEGEEan: Changing the topic, for many of the students it will be their first time in the Netherlands. What do you recommend to foreigners? And what do you like the most about your city and its residents?

Peter den Oudsten: Enjoy the inner city, de “Oude Markt” with its cafés and theatres. But also go by bike and see the beautiful landscape.

The AEGEEan: Something that will delight many students is your local beer “Grolsch”. Do you think it’s better than the omnipresent Heineken? And your citizens, what do they think?

Peter den Oudsten: There is only one answer: Grolsch is the best! A true “tukker” (an inhabitant of the Twente region) drinks local beer. Every season another flavour: “Lente Bok of Herfst Bok”.

The AEGEEan: Finally, would you like to add a final thought?

Peter den Oudsten: I hope that the international students see Europe as their homeland. The integration of European countries is necessary for mutual understanding and peace for now and the future. There are problems now with the Euro, but there is only one future: being a European.

Thank you very much for your time Mr. Peter den Oudsten, and I hope that although the Agora is short, we will get the feeling of “’Noaberschap”, and of course feel the pride of being Europeans.

Written by Álvaro Morán, AEGEE-Bilbao

Picture provided by Mr. Peter Den Oudsten