From the landlocked plateaus high in the Caucasian mountains, on the crossroads of Europe, the Middle East and Russia and the borders of Christendom and the Muslim World comes a girl with an unmatched enthusiasm for AEGEE. Now AEGEE-Yerevan’s very own Tereza Tokmajyan is more than ready to become your next Member of the Network Commission. Hailing from one of Europe’s most exotic locations, eternally optimistic and multitalented; what you’ll definitely remember her by, however, is her unbridled spirit.

The AEGEEan: The greatest failure is to not imagine the other as complexly. Tereza, what would you like the other members of AEGEE to know about you?

Tereza: I am a 22-year-old Armenian living currently in a small city called Olhao (if you have some challenges to pronounce it, I can teach you ), in Portugal doing my EVS. I have a bachelor degree in Occupational Therapy (Ergotherapy), but after graduating university I started working as a Social Media Marketologist. Yes, it sounds totally different and crazy but that’s all me.

I like experimenting in different spheres of work, because come on, we are only living once. It can be stupid to have a boring life with no changes in it, and that’s why I became an AEGEEan, an addicted AEGEEan, a crazy AEGEEan. Before, after and during my AEGEE life I was also a member of several organisations in Armenia like APY and Youth Breath which are the observer members of YEU and I was also a volunteer in Red Cross in the department of First Aid, so no worries, I can save your life  [she laughs, ed.]

And yes, if you hear people calling me China don’t be surprised, it’s my nickname and it has a long story behind it, but I like it as much as Harry Potter loves Hogwards [she smiles, ed.]

”A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Could you briefly outline your involvement, experiences and history with AEGEE?

It was four years ago, a sunny Armenian morning, when I was invited for the Local Training Course of some organisation called AEGEE which I couldn’t pronounce properly. AEGEE totally changed me, it became a Red Bull 24/7 hours a day in my life. I was like a child looking for the cookie jar. It started with the Local Training Course (LTC), then I was involved in the local Human Resources Committee (HRC) and the next term I became head of HRC and I was re-elected for a second term as well. Since 2011 I am involved in the Human Resources Committee (HRC) of AEGEE-Europe, having organised a lot of trainings, knowledge sharing courses in my local and of course Summer Universities. But so far, this is going to be my first Agora (if  watching the Agora online  is not counted), and I am sure it will be epic because Gijon was the place I felt my AEGEE spirit getting stronger and lifted when AEGEE-Oviedo and EAP organised a YIA event there. After this I was spamming my friends in Facebook with “Come on people, join AEGEE-Yerevan, we have cool projects, we have summer universities, and it’s the motherland of party animals”.

Why of all positions did you consider to apply for a position in the Network Commission? What do you think, makes you the ideal candidate to be the next Member of the Network Commission?

Isn’t it amazing how we meet people during our AEGEE journey, become friends, family, but in 100-200 years nobody will remember our names anymore and nobody will know we ever existed? But it doesn’t mean that we need to stop, keep our ideas and share it only with locals. We need to move on, go even higher and try to spread our spirit, knowledge and experience with the others. Network Commission is the perfect place for implementing this kind of ideas and it has taken my attention since I was a dummy AEGEEan.

I know that I have a lot of energy to go for this step, to be the one to connect the locals and be the change. For me Network Commission is a big example of the “team” and how the “teamwork” looks like. And I wish to create a network of locals standing one by one, supporting each other and creating a history.

“Life is like a box of chocolates.” What do you expect are the greatest challenges of being a Member of the Network Commission that you’ll get?

Oh, if life is a box and being a member of the Network Commission is grabbing and eating the chocolates inside of it then the challenge is accepted. But to be serious, the main challenge of my entire life is time management, because I want to be everywhere and do everything, and if I will be elected for this position I guess AEGEE will consume lots of my time. But thank God, we have smart phones and e-agents which actually help us organising [she smiles, ed].

But let’s see, I am sure that for the next term Network Commission will have a great team supporting each other, solving all the problems and breaking all the barriers together and of course I want to be a part of it. “Thanks to the people that show me what AEGEE is. See you all at AgorAsturias. Be ready, another type of winter is coming!”

Written by Willem Laurentzen, AEGEE-Nijmegen

The applications for Spring AgorAsturias 2015 have just been opened! In the meantime, AEGEE-Oviedo is still working very hard to make this an unforgettable Agora – according to the local organisers, they have capacities for 1,200 participants! Here is what Alberto Cuesta Noriega, main organiser of the Agora, and Gerardo García Díaz, president of AEGEE-Oviedo, told The AEGEEan on behalf of the antenna located in the land of ‘cachopo’, cider and King Pelayo (the lucky ones coming to the Agora will definitely discover who we are talking about!).

The AEGEEan: The Agora is less than two months away – How are the preparations going?

Alberto and Gerardo: Right now we are focused especially on the field of fundraising, since the venues are already confirmed. The Parties Team is closing the thematics of the nights and we are trying to add some typical food for participants balancing cost and quality. Also, we are polishing the Opening Ceremony with a mix of traditional and modern performances.

The main square of Gijón’s Laboral University.

AgorAsturias will be located in the city of Gijón. What can you tell us about the locations of the Agora?

Maybe the most “amazing” fact about it is that the plenaries and prytania will be held in the Laboral University of Gijón, which is the largest building in Spain. But not only this… the building of the church of the University, where we will have the Opening Dinner, is the largest elliptical dome in the world. Regarding the accommodation, participants will sleep in the Sports Palace of Gijón. Is not the largest palace in anywhere, but we can say that the number of showers that participants will have available is by far the highest seen lately on statutory events… being accommodation, toilets and showers all in the same building.

How many participants would you be able to host?

We have venues that can gather a massive 1200 participants number, so do not be afraid to apply!

How can participants get to the city? Is there the possibility of having any discounts?

The main way to reach Asturias is via Madrid or Barcelona by plane and then travelling to Asturias by another flight, bus or train, though there are other connections to Santander, Bilbao and even Asturias airport.

Regarding discounts, the main bus (ALSA) and railway (Renfe) operators in Spain already gave discounts for us, and we are expecting the main airline company (Iberia) to join the discount fest. Also, pre-events such as the AEGEE-Barcelona, with the possibility of going to the Agora with them.

Aside from that, booking tickets with time, participants would be able to get also the regular discounts from the bus company (Madrid-Gijón-Madrid as cheap as 10€, though there are even direct buses from Madrid-Barajas Airport to Gijón and way back) or train (especially the “table” one, that allows four people to share a table in the train for a really cheap price in comparison to individual tickets and that European Planning Meeting fellow organisers are already advertising).

What do you think of the European Planning Meeting (EPM) and Agora being so close in dates? Do you see it as a big inconvenience?

The main issue in here is that participants, especially the ones living far away, are “forced” to choose between the events, since is not suitable for them to travel to Spain twice in two months.

But in our opinion it is not the time in the end, but the fact that Burgos and Gijón are quite close (208 km in straight line, 326 by road) so then it is reasonable for foreigners to think “I am not going two times to northern Spain (or even just to Spain) in the same year” even though the cities (and regions) have nothing to do with eachother in comparison.

Neither Burgos nor Gijón are places where the “paella, flamenco and sun” cliché is true, but even in that common fact, they are way different. For instance, Asturias is Celtic land (there are bagpipers, mythology and cider) while Burgos is the “head of Castille” and has its very own traditions unrelated with Asturian ones. Both places are worth a visit, so it is a pity in the end.

Tell us a bit about the team – how many members are in the core team of the Agora? We have heard that there are also non AEGEE-Oviedo members in there.

We have 15 members in the core team, all of them from AEGEE-Oviedo except for Alberto Arroyo (from Madrid) and Sora Chung (from Alicante). We even have one honorary member (Juan Sordo) and a nice balance between oldies and freshmen.

Moreover, the open call for helpers was closed a few weeks ago. Has the “Nave” region responded positively to it? How was the “encerrona” (ed. teambuilding event for organisers and helpers) you had last weekend?

The work performed by Olga Fernández and Alberto Arroyo, the HR coordinators, has been outstanding. We reached 71 applications and it was hard to reject some of them, but the team looks nice (we have newbies and people that already organised two Agorae) and after the first “Encerrona” we saw that there are nice synergies and the teambuilding went well.

The full team, counting AEGEE-Oviedo members and external organisers and helpers is made of 69 people, including three helpers from Kyiv.

Can you tell us something about the social program of the Agora, any surprises…?

The social programme is lead by Santiago Martínez, our Vice-president, and he has been carefully selecting the best venues in town for the social programme. From the previously quoted largest elliptical dome in the world for the opening dinner to the Casino of Asturias Club and some of the best clubs in town. Also, we are preparing sports and activities for those who do not want to go partying every night – a chill out café in the accommodation and several amusements in the Sports Palace to allow everybody to have fun no matter the time they want to go to sleep.

What would you consider most special about the Asturias region?

As we said before, Asturias is such a unique region in Spain. We could start by the fact that the northern coast of Spain has few things to do with the rest of the country in terms of landscapes and traditions, but inside of that “special features”, Asturias has some gems.

Some say an image is worth a thousand words, so instead of typing we encourage our readers to see this Asturias promo video. Asturias is a so called “Natural Paradise”, so we hope with that video you will understand better why.

Last but not least, can we ask for a few spoilers about the menu? Will participants be lucky to taste the delicious “cachopo” and “sidra”?

We are still polishing it, but expect the opening dinner to be more like an opening “espicha” (the asturian traditional social meal where you eat tapas and drink sidra standing up and taking small things from the big dishes in the table). This means there will be sidra and we are trying to get jamón and asturian cheese for participants. Regarding the cachopo, we will try our best, but cachopo is a dish that requires time and dedication for preparing, so we are not really sure if we can make it for 800 people. We would like to offer our participants the best or nothing, so if we cannot assure quality cachopos for all them, we will try to find an alternative dish.

Written by Anna Gumbau, AEGEE-Barcelona

Remember that you can apply to AgorAsturias through the Intranet – the deadline is February 16th!

Renove is a common term for members of La Nave, the nickname for the locals in France, Spain, Portugal and AEGEE-Brussels/Bruxelles. This year the 4^th edition of Renove will be hosted, bringing back the event to where it originally started, namely in a small village close to Madrid.

AEGEE-Madrid will already host the fourth edition of Renove, but even though the event has existed for years, still not many members outside of La Nave know about it. The AEGEEan therefore interviewed newly elected NetCom assistant Carmen Maria about the idea behind the event. “The idea was to have a common event right after the period of Summer Universities (when new members are really motivated and want to know more about AEGEE). An event which combines funny activities and information about AEGEE in the right doses, as well as allows antennae members to get to know each other by mixing oldies and newbies while promoting teambuilding.”

After the first edition of the event, Antonio Velez then President of AEGEE-Madrid explained to The AEGEEan that the idea included having a team based competition, some light workshops and a lot of fun and parties to make it an attractive event for newbies. “As one of the main objectives (and results) of this event was to activate new people in order to gain new board members, Maria Laglera (PR of SUCT 2011) suggested the name Renove, which in Spain is the name of a goverment program to replace old cars, and we all agreed,” he told the magazine when being interviewed by The AEGEEan in 2011.

In the last years the event has been hosted by AEGEE-Madrid, AEGEE-Valladolid and AEGEE-Burgos. The NetCom team, La Tripulación, ensured that the event created back in 2011 kept its original spirit and main purpose and has over the years taken further control of the content in order for it not to divert its aim.

As mentioned, the event this year goes back to where it started, in a small village close to the Spanish capital and again hosted by AEGEE-Madrid. Carmen Maria tells us: “Clearly, Madrid is geographically the most convenient city for the whole area. Connections are better and easier for people than to other cities. It will also be good for the antenna to motivate and activate members which is a bit difficult in such a big city.”

Renove in Valladolid

As always it will be a busy autumn for the antennae in “La Nave” having several interesting events to go to. There will be Renove in September, sending delegates and visitors to the Autumn Agora in Cagliari in October and the Autumn Network Meeting in November in Zaragoza. The AEGEEan asked Carmen Maria if she believes the event participation in Renove and later the NWM in Zaragoza will be affected by the busy schedule and she says: “Renove is taking place right in the middle of Spain and Zaragoza is in the Northwest. These cities have quite a good location regarding the rest of the antennae of our area so we don’t really see a problem. The content and aim of these events are also pretty different so they can attract a wide variety of members. Moreover, we love Renoves and NWMs!”

Next to these events, early next year there will also be plenty of work for AEGEE antennae as the EPM will take place in Burgos in February and a few months later there will be the Spring Agora in Gijon organized by AEGEE-Oviedo. The Autumn NWM as well as Renove will be of great importance for these two statutory events “They will be really relevant as many people might get active and find the motivation to take part in these upcoming events. They will also be the perfect place to learn a bit more about event’s organisation, functioning of the teams and so on, so we expect these events to be a help for the future organisers and helpers of the EPM and the Agora. They will be perfect places to bond together,” Carmen Maria tells The AEGEEan.

Renove hosted by AEGEE-Burgos

Of course The AEGEEan also interview the board of AEGEE-Madrid about their motivation to organise the event. It was already said last year that the antenna wanted to organise the event again but in the end the participants enjoyed a fruitful event hosted by AEGEE-Burgos. So instead of Renove 3.0 it turned out that Renove 4.0 would be the follow-up event for AEGEE-Madrid on their great success in 2011 and they tell us: “Well, for us, it was about time to do it.  Last year we were in a rush and we didn’t have enough time to prepare a project like this one. This year, with a fresh new board and some new active members there was a constant factor that always appeared in our projects: Renove IV. Since the very beginning, it was proposed to organise the Renove in 2014, and all the new and old board member agreed on that. As the time was passing, we were more and more excited about the idea of organising an event like this for our region.We have worked hard lately on it and finally we decided to send our application to “La Tripulación”.”

Even though about three years have gone by, there are still people in AEGEE-Madrid that have the experience of hosting the first event that will offer their expertise for the 4^th edition, for example Sergio Recuero, who was part of the team that organized the first Renove. For Renove 4.0, he will be in charge of the social programme and activities before and during the event. Also Antonio Vélez who used to be a subcommisioner for the Network Commission, and who is another experienced member from AEGEE-Madrid will help the antenna with the organisation of this big project. Javier Uceda, the Vice president, was also involved with the same enthusiasm in the first one as he is in this one. “With their experience, ideas, patience and hard work, we are sure we will make the difference for Renove IV,” the rest of the board of AEGEE-Madrid ensures The AEGEEan.

These experienced members work together with the group of organisers with new motivated members such as Alberto Arroyo and Silvia de Gregorio that are very motivated and want to get involved in the organization of such an event for the whole region. They will also make use of the experience of Cintia Pérez, Eva Alcolea and Ana Gómez (Anita), who have already organized events not only on a local level, but also in the European level, which surely will be a great contribution.

 However, the event won’t all be the same as the first year. First of all, the first thing that will be different is the accommodation. The lodging has been renovated during the last year and the participants will be in wood huts instead of a hostel. Furthermore, the owners of the place have also renovated the facilities and there will also be a greater arrangement of the parties this time around. But changes aren’t only made to the accommodation, AEGEE-Madrid has a lot of surprises in mind as well as activities, games, a big gymkana and the thematic for this Renove that they unfortunately cannot reveal yet, but they ensure that everyone is going to have a great time. “The key of the last success was the place chosen, Manjirón, (which, would be the same but a little bit changed) but also the new team of organisers, one of them will be organiser of this Renove too (Sergio Recuero) and the social programme. We would like to contribute to repeat that success this year with fresh ideas and activities to make sure everyone is going to remember this event. However, as everyone knows, we will keep in mind what happened during the first Renove, but we won’t like to reenact it, as if we were reenacting a historical battle. As Heraclitus said: “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man,” the board says.

Former Network Commissioner Pauline at Renove in Burgos. The Network Commission is of course also very involved in Renove 4.0 that will be in Madrid

AEGEE-Madrid has many plans for the events and have already chosen the thematic for the making of the groups, as in other Renoves the participants will be divided into different groups during the event. “It is so great that we cannot tell you anything else, it is a secret (part of the surprises that we are planning). However, we know that you will love it. Our idea is to bring people from different places together and mixed the “oldies” with the “start-to-be-active” and “newbies”, so the event can be more fun and productive. Through this groups, we will make contact with all the participants and it will increase the relations of the people before and after the event,” the board finishes the interview with excitement for the event.

Renove is not the only event that AEGEE-Madrid is working on. Every week they gather the members to motivate new ones and get them in contact with the board and the rest of the people from AEGEE either at a meeting or a social drink. Besides that, as many other antennae, AEGEE-Madrid is also busy working on their upcoming Summer University and they have plenty more events in mind to ensure that AEGEE members will enjoy happenings hosted by their antenna several times of the year in different shapes of events.

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-Zaragoza.

The whole plenary hall of Spring Agora Patra muted all of a sudden once the big news was announced: the first two Statutory events of 2015 will be both held in Spain. The city of Burgos will host the newly named European Planning Meeting, and the Spring Agora 2015 will be hosted by AEGEE-Oviedo in the city of Gijón.

“We know we owe you an explanation about this”, Miguel Gallardo, on behalf of the Comité Directeur, told the audience of the plenary hall right after all the members of La Nave (the region of the Portuguese-, Spanish- and French-speaking locals), that were present in Patra, came up on stage after the result of the Spring Agora 2015 was announced. There was no other local, other than AEGEE-Oviedo, that had applied to host the event, and their application was received after AEGEE-Burgos had already been selected to host the EPM.

Therefore, the Comité Directeur had no other choice: “it has been one of the hardest decisions of our two terms in the CD”, Miguel added. Besides, the Financial Director of AEGEE-Europe, Anna Gots, insisted that AEGEE-Oviedo’s was “an excellent applicant” for hosting the Statutory event.

The drops that ended up filling the glass

The AEGEEan interviewed AEGEE-Oviedo members Alberto Cuesta Noriega, Gerardo García Díaz, Olga Rivero, Santiago Martínez and Olga Fernández

The AEGEEan asked the members of AEGEE-Oviedo present at Spring Agora Patra how the idea of hosting an Agora came up. It was an idea stuck in the head of Alberto Cuesta Noriega, current Chairperson of the Agora, for some years already, after he came back from his first Agora.

Alberto had been insisting on the members of his local for a long time, and they even considered applying two years ago. But they did not reach their final decision until December last year, when the local was celebrating their 25th Anniversary: “after some glasses of wine, we said that we wanted the Agora of AEGEE-Europe’s 30th Anniversary”, Alberto explains, “so the time was now”. The board members of the local had signed their commitment on some napkins: there was no turning back. Gerardo García Díaz, SUCT and board member of AEGEE-Oviedo, adds: “it was a drop falling down constantly… and, in the end, the glass was filled”.

However, AEGEE-Oviedo didn’t expect the news that they would be hosting the Agora at all: “one month ago it still seemed like a crazy idea”, Santiago Martínez says. “When we submitted the application it was rather a moment of total excitement. Afterwards, we faced some moments of insecurity, like, ‘should we withdraw?'”. Then, the Comité Directeur contacted Alberto to give him the news: “I kept my mouth shut for a couple of days”, he admits. “But then, it was time to convince especially the most skeptical members: this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity”.

Not ‘Agora Oviedo’, but ‘AgorAsturias’

It took only a few days for AEGEE-Oviedo to be offered the help of their local university. “The head of our faculty said, ‘don’t be afraid that you might not have enough resources. We can offer you our help, our contacts and anything you might need'”, Olga Rivero, current vice-president of AEGEE-Oviedo, explains.

However, don’t expect this Agora to be called “Spring Agora Oviedo 2015”, because the event will be hosted in the city of Gijón, the largest one in Asturias, which is located on the coastline, and where many of AEGEE-Oviedo’s members actually come from. Besides, according to the local organisers, it was easier to organise it in Gijón in terms of infrastructure. This is why, as the official logo created by Gerardo shows, this Agora will be named “Spring AgorAsturias 2015”.

According to them, it will not be as difficult as it might look for AEGEE members to get to Gijón. “We will probably have discounts on buses, trains or even airplanes”, they say. Moreover, there are several RyanAir-based airports nearby, such as the ones in Santander and Valladolid, and buses from Madrid every hour.

Now, the local organisers are preparing the final arrangements for the places where the Agora will take place, but the plenaries will most probably be taking place in the main Congress Bureau in Gijón; when we first interviewed them in Agora Patra, they were also defining the main roles and the core team.

An Agora that will break the ‘Astureotype’

Currently, AEGEE-Oviedo is working on their Summer University, under the title ‘breaking the Astureotype’. And this is partly what AgorAsturias will be about: breaking stereotypes about Spain! This region is far from the image that most people have of Spain. Asturias has a unique personality, and the members of AEGEE-Oviedo will make sure that the attendants of the Agora experience it.

Moreover, “if it doesn’t rain” (Gerardo smiles), the AEGEEans coming to the Agora will be able to enjoy the Cantabric sea: the main venues where the Agora will take place are very close to the coastline in Gijón.

When asked about the controversy of hosting two Statutory events by two Spanish locals in a row, they don’t see it as a major inconvenience. “I don’t think it will affect us that much”, the local says. “Most of the times, according to the profiles of delegates or envoys who must come to an Agora or an EPM, they must get there no matter the place”. They also expect to have several volunteers and helpers from the locals involving La Nave region.

Meanwhile, we leave you with the promotional video that AEGEE-Oviedo used in Spring Agora Patra 2014 to show the wonders of Asturias, under their motto: “never stop dreaming”.

Written by Anna Gumbau, AEGEE-Barcelona

Featured image by Laia Garcia (AEGEE-Tarragona)