Spring Agora Enschede is approaching very fast and there is just one thing between being an applicant and a participant: the application.

The first thing to know is: who is going to read your applications? The Chair Team, in cooperation with the Comité Directeur, is the one in charge of selecting participants. And in case you are wondering, yes, the Chair Team will read ALL your motivation letters. Despite the fact that in the team we speak more or less a dozen languages, ironically none of us is fluent in Dutch. Plus, the working language of the Agora is English, therefore while writing your application remember to use English only. Do not worry if your written English is not the best, as long as you will be able to put a sentence in the right order subject + verb + complement(s), we will definitely understand you.

What to write in it? The application system is helping a bit by giving some outline questions that can help you in drafting the text.

1. Why do you want to participate in this Agora?

2. What do you know about the Agora?

3. How can you contribute to this Agora?

4. What is your AEGEE experience?

5. Since when are you an AEGEE member?

You don’t necessarily have to answer in that order. For example, you can start by describing the highlights of your AEGEE experience and when you joined AEGEE. If you are a new member and you did not have a chance to be active in your local, explain what are your expectations towards the association and the Agora. When asked to explain what you know about the Agora, do not write “enough to attend” or copy and paste what the CIA says about it. Go more in depth and describe what Agora means and is to you, what the General Assembly is for AEGEE. What if you never attend an Agora? Don’t worry, usually up to half of the participants are at their first statutory event. Here you can write how you discovered about Agora, what do you expect the Agora to be. You can also talk with more experienced members, your local boards or even the Network Commissioners and ask what our General Assembly looks like, thus having a better picture of it.

How you can contribute to this Agora is a subjective questions, but in this field you can specify if you are thinking to hold a workshop or a progress meeting, if you are thinking to present something in the plenary, if you would like to help other delegates or visitors with your knowledge or even if you want to run for an elective position. After answering all these questions, why you want to attend the Agora will come easily. And no, eating stroopwafel will not be considered a good motivation, even thought we all love stroopwafel. [she winks, ed.]

Don’t leave it empty, don’t type random words or don’t put just smiles on it. Especially empty applications mean automatical rejection if you are a visitor. Even if you are most likely to be accepted – if you are a delegate or member of a European body – writing a good motivation letter is always a plus. Definitely, it would be perfect to state at least the body you are representing or what you are going to do during the Agora.

Locals’ boards are important too. They have the faculty of creating a ranking for visitors and assign the participant type (when it is not decided by the local agora) and to leave comments. In this cases the best thing to do is to be honest. Do not copy and paste the motivation letter of other applicants from your local, but also do not copy and paste board comments for every single member who applied, especially if you do not make an effort to at least change their gender. If you think that several people are promising and more or less equally good, change the words you use for each one of them, personalise your comment. Indeed it is true that boards do not know personally all the members, especially with big locals. In case this happen, and you do not know the applicants, then find a moment to talk with them in order to understand better their motivation to go to the Agora.

You can apply for Spring Agora Enschede till the 23rd of March here. Locals’ Boards can set a participant type and add board comments until the 25th of March using this link.

For any questions, you can reach the Chair Team here or send an email at chair@aegee.org

Written by Erika Bettin, Interim Vice-Chairwoman of Spring Agora Enschede 2017

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