Miguel Gallardo Albajar – The AEGEEan – AEGEE's online magazine – AEGEE-Europe ../../.. AEGEE's Online Magazine Fri, 18 Nov 2016 20:56:28 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.8.7 ../../../wp-content/uploads/cropped-The-AEGEEan_logo-FBprofile-32x32.png Miguel Gallardo Albajar – The AEGEEan – AEGEE's online magazine – AEGEE-Europe ../../.. 32 32 The story continues for Comité Directeur 2012 – 2014 ../../../2014/06/24/the-story-continues-for-comite-directeur-2012-2014/ Tue, 24 Jun 2014 10:30:03 +0000 ../../../?p=23892 Now that the Comité Directeur 2014 – 2015 has been elected and was already introduced to you, it’s time for the Comité Directeur 2012 – 2014 to make new plans for their future. The AEGEEan spoke to Luis, Lucille, Anna, Miguel, Pavel, Kathrin, Beáta and Pavel to ask about these plans, but also to give them a chance to reflect… Read more →

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Now that the Comité Directeur 2014 – 2015 has been elected and was already introduced to you, it’s time for the Comité Directeur 2012 – 2014 to make new plans for their future. The AEGEEan spoke to Luis, Lucille, Anna, Miguel, Pavel, Kathrin, Beáta and Pavel to ask about these plans, but also to give them a chance to reflect on their time spent in Brussels.

Luis Alvarado Martinez (President)

The AEGEEan: What are your plans for the time after the Comité Directeur?

Luis: I have been accepted to study for nine months in the College of Europe with a full scholarship, so I will go back to do a Master, which I didn’t have before. What I will do in between those studies is still unknown. I plan to keep being involved in other big civil society platforms such as the European Youth Forum and to be engaged in different participatory and political processes too.

The AEGEEan: Are you planning to stay involved in AEGEE?

Luis: Well, I have been promised an invitation to enter the newly refreshed Les Anciens. I have no plan to be actively engaged in the network. As me and my Comité Directeur have always been saying, the active involvement, political processes and active development of AEGEE should remain in the hands of the young, fresh and motivated generation. This way, AEGEE is able to ensure a high level of energy, creativity and idealism in its work.

The AEGEEan: What will you miss most about being in the Comité Directeur?

Luis: The laughs in the office, good moments with members of your team, the results of your work, people thanking you for what you do, the never ending brainstorming of ideas and initiatives and the satisfactional feeling of getting a good job done.

The AEGEEan: What is something you probably won’t miss?

Luis: Lack of privacy, a messy house, the full time working weekends, collecting bills and the unnecessary stress and drama. [he smiles]

Lucille Rieux (Secretary General) 

The AEGEEan: What are your plans for the time after the Comité Directeur?

Lucille: First of all, resting and taking things slow for a month or two. After that, I’m also looking into jobs in Brussels, as I’d like to stay here a bit longer. After doing EVS and two years of Comité Directeur, I believe it’s time to find a real job that will enable me to get some money to plan things out in my life. I plan to travel too, and in a longer perspective I want to discover and experience different kind of organisations working with creative innovation and young people, which could inspire me to create something on my own too.

The AEGEEan: Are you planning to stay involved in AEGEE?

Lucille: This is a question I cannot answer yet. I won’t cut the link right away, and I could imagine working on a project or in a position I really enjoy, but at the same time, I also feel the need to open a new page in my life, and get to know other associations and other forms of engagement in the civil society.

The AEGEEan: What will you miss most about being in the Comité Directeur?

Lucille: I will probably miss the flexibility and work style of this CD, which gave us space for creativity and leadership. It’s great to work on a variety of topics and also to be able to go from thematic work, to an official meeting and leaving for a training the same week. I’ll probably miss working with the six other specimens [she laughs] that spent those two years with me.

The AEGEEan: What is something you probably won’t miss?

Lucille: Writing Comité Directeur minutes [she smiles]

Anna Gots (Financial Director)

The AEGEEan: What are your plans for the time after the Comité Directeur?

Anna: Definitely to stay in Brussels: find a job here, maybe study a bit more, master my Dutch skills, engage in other voluntary activities… I have plenty of options in fact [she smiles]. In general the plan for the next year is to slow down the level of stress and responsibility if possible, make more room for creativity and more time for dreaming and developing myself.

The AEGEEan: Are you planning to stay involved in AEGEE?

Anna: For now I see myself solely as a supporting or advising person for the new generation, only if asked of course. The general feeling is that my time has been, and it’s time to leave a space for the new leaders and new dreamers. But who knows, maybe I can still find some challenges in AEGEE, big enough to keep me active!

The AEGEEan: What will you miss most about being in the Comité Directeur?

Anna: The amazing team, flexibility and diversity of my working days and being ‘boss’ at the Agora [she laughs].

The AEGEEan: What is something you probably won’t miss?

Anna: Cleaning the house, travelling with Ryanair in a big group, the registration desk at Agora and reporting General Subvention [she laughs].

 

Kathrin Renner (Vice President and External Relations Director)

The AEGEEan: What are your plans for the time after the Comité Directeur?

Kathrin: I’m taking a break for a couple of weeks, and then most probably I will start a Master in Brussels and look for a part time job at the same time. I would like to develop myself into a bit of a different direction though, more business oriented, collect a couple of new experiences and see a different environment.

The AEGEEan: Are you planning to stay involved in AEGEE?

Kathrin: I will probably stick around for a couple of months in the beginning to support the new Comité Directeur whenever they ask for it. Also, a lot of my friends are members in AEGEE and I will miss seeing those faces regularly. At the same time, I will probably not take any active position anymore. It’s time to make room for the new generation and start a new phase in my life [she smiles].

The AEGEEan: What will you miss most about being in the Comité Directeur?

Kathrin: My six team mates, because even if we fought and hated each other at times, in the end they are very precious to me, and I will miss especially our stupid jokes and bickering. Also, of course, being able to shape our own ideas into plans and implement them, developing and experimenting with different strategies, setting our own agenda and being our own bosses.

The AEGEEan: What is something you probably won’t miss?

Kathrin: Collecting bills, sharing the house with up to twenty people a weekend and not having my own space, and being a slave of my inbox.

 

Miguel Gallardo Albajar (Projects Director) 

The AEGEEan: What are your plans for the time after the Comité Directeur?

Miguel: I only know one thing for sure: I want to stay in Brussels. It’s the first time I want to stay in a city after my planned period finishes, so I will follow this impulse of settling down, which is surprising my family and friends. I like the city and its culture, I have a circle of friends and more, so now I just have to find a job and a new apartment.

The AEGEEan: Are you planning to stay involved in AEGEE?

Miguel: Well, I do not want a traumatic break up, but I will not have an imporatnt position anymore. But, it’s quite likely that I will be trying to be useful in one or two teams that are struggling now.

The AEGEEan: What will you miss most about being in the Comité Directeur?

Miguel: Having an overview of all that happens in such a great organisation is a feeling I love, and I have no idea if I will have the same kind of role in my future job. Also, being in all those meetings where important things are discussed, and decided, is thrilling. I will also miss living in the AEGEE house (can you believe it?), with all its randomness and the surprise invitations for cakes and dinner from other team members. And the ritual of watching Game of Thrones in the basement.

The AEGEEan: What is something you probably won’t miss?

Miguel: Filling the reimbursement forms for my expenses. I did it for three years during my research in Morocco and now two years in Brussels. I am fed up with collecting bills.

 

Beáta Matuszka (Network and Human Resources Director)

The AEGEEan: What are your plans for the time after the Comité Directeur?

Beáta: I am currently looking for a job in the corporate world, mainly to get experience and preferably start my own business after that or go back to the civil sphere. But I am already thinking about new crazy adventures, such as taking part in the Transsiberian Express TSU next year or just generally discovering everything which is outside of Europe. (I have never really left our old continent [she smiles])

The AEGEEan: Are you planning to stay involved in AEGEE?

Beáta: I still have some unfinished business and I would like to be a bit involved in one project, but definitely not with the same intensity like in the past. The friendships I had during these years won’t fade with the end of my active years, I will definitely keep in contact with my friends all around Europe.

The AEGEEan: What will you miss most about being in the Comité Directeur?

Beáta: This crazy lifestyle which was way cooler than my Erasmus, this unbelievable experience which is barely comparable to anything else, the never-ending trips, the possibility to meet amazingly enthusiastic and inspiring people on a weekly basis…  I think I will only realize what I am going to miss once I moved back home.

The AEGEEan: What is something you probably won’t miss?

Beáta: I would say the weather in Brussels, but in the past months it was better than anywhere else in Europe, so I can’t really complain.

 

Pavel Zborník (European Institutions and Communications Director) 

The AEGEEan: What are your plans for the time after the Comité Directeur?

Pavel: Quite simple for me: I finished my study two years ago, so I will work unless I win in a lottery. I don’t limit myself in terms of places, you never know where life will take you.

The AEGEEan: Are you planning to stay involved in AEGEE?

Pavel: I think and feel my time in AEGEE is over. I might stick around for a few more months, but then it is time to move on, make a clean cut and look for new adventures.

The AEGEEan: What will you miss most about being in the Comité Directeur?

Pavel: Being my own boss and having the flexibility to decide what to do when or not do it at all.

The AEGEEan: What is something you probably won’t miss?

Pavel: Hypocrisy, egoism and lack of identification of members with the organisation.

 Written by Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen

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AEGEE as a key player on Youth Employment in Europe ../../../2013/12/12/aegee-as-a-key-player-on-youth-employment-in-europe/ Thu, 12 Dec 2013 17:41:39 +0000 ../../../?p=20829 From November 11th to the 13th, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD or OCDE in French) headquarters in Paris hosted the Youth Summit on Youth Employment, which took place parallel to the Paris Intergovernmental Summit of the EU Members States on the same issue. As member of the Comité Directeur of AEGEE-Europe, I was able to represent our organization… Read more →

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From November 11th to the 13th, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD or OCDE in French) headquarters in Paris hosted the Youth Summit on Youth Employment, which took place parallel to the Paris Intergovernmental Summit of the EU Members States on the same issue.

As member of the Comité Directeur of AEGEE-Europe, I was able to represent our organization at this summit thanks to the invitation issued by the European Youth Forum (YFJ). Unfortunately, no members from our Youth (un)Employment project could come, because at the same time, preparations for the Y-Vote convention on Youth Employment were taking place in Agrigento.

The Youth Summit in Paris was special since, for the first time, it brought the two main non-governmental actors in the field of employment for young people together: trade unions and national youth councils. Why they had not managed to sit down to draft a common strategy, when the destruction of jobs in Europe is a problem for several years already, is still a mystery to me.

The discussions covered different fields, among which a big highlight was an update on implementation of the Youth Guarantee Scheme established by the European Union. The Youth Guarantee aims to provide all young Europeans with a job, a traineeship or an education opportunity within the next four months after ending studies or finishing their contract. Even if far from the estimation of 21 billion Euros that are needed for the scheme, the 6 billion Euros provided by the EU can have a big impact as a first step. Therefore, it was quite disheartening to see that the preparations are quite behind schedule in many member states, specially among those with higher youth unemployment rates. They are supposed to be ready by the end of December.

When implementing the Scheme, we saw how some countries clearly modify the target groups and risk to subvert the actual spirit of the proposal. The youth organisation has always claimed a role in deciding and monitoring the implementation of the Youth Guarantee; but this co-decision power has seldom been granted, and in many countries the implementation plan will be prepared last-minute, in a closed office without input from the affected groups.

The French minister of Employment, addressing the participants of the Youth Summit.

Another issue of the summit was the importance of focusing attention on inclusion of the NEETs (people who are Not in Education, Employment or Training) which is a population in great risk of social exclusion. The percentage of NEETs in society vary enormously from country to country, but because most countries do not include them in Unemployment statistics, they are a hidden group in big risk of exclusion.

At the same time at the summit, the presidents of most EU-countries met in Paris receiving huge media coverage, but little results. The fact that this extraordinary meeting had been called, seems a very effective way to present to the public opinion how “much” the governments care about one of the most pressing problems in Europe. But the participants at the summit would have liked to see more tangible results than front-page pictures of shaking hands, press releases, and the scheduling of a next meeting in Rome for Spring. A call for less talk and more action was the common message of almost all interventions and during the street action that was held on Tuesday.

EU Commissioner László Andor updated the participants on the outcome of the Intergovernmental Summit.

At least our Youth Summit is the start of a new period of collaboration among youth stakeholders. And we will keep ourselves working to improve the problem of youth employment. At the same time we will try to ensure that from now until the next Summit in Rome, advancements are made and no more time is lost. The next summit will take place in Spring, in the middle of the campaign for the EU elections. Political leaders will definitely plan to stage themselves carefully to the media, in order to take political advantage. But we will also make sure to use the media coverage to make our voices heard and denounce any failure in using all the available resources to fight the Youth Unemployment crisis.

Once I was back in Brussels, I went to the European Parliament to attend a Round Table Discussion on the quality of internships, which is a very relevant issue in Europe and especially in Brussels, which has a big population of interns. The issue of unpaid internships (which is an opportunity only available to those who have enough money to cover some months without income), and the intern positions that don’t provide enough learning and training (just providing employers with low-waged workers), were among the most mentioned problems of the current situation.

Both events’ information was sent regularly to Agrigento, where it fed into the discussions of the Y-Vote convention, and where they were transformed into recommendations that will be passed to the new European Parliament to be elected in May 2014. Moreover, it gave me some ideas to reboot our Youth (un)Employment project that has been dormant in the last few months. If you are motivated to contribute to solving one of the biggest challenges in Europe nowadays, why not join the project? Please contact the team at yue@aegee.org, or answer to the Open Call that will be launched soon on the ANNOUNCE-L mailing list.

Written by: Miguel Gallardo Albajar, member of the Comité Directeur

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Some personal insights in the life of the Comité Directeur ../../../2012/10/08/some-personal-insights-in-the-life-of-the-comite-directeur/ Mon, 08 Oct 2012 10:56:05 +0000 ../../../?p=12533 Besides the busy life of the Comité Directeur (CD) members focused on the development of our association, The AEGEEan had the chance to ask the CD members some personal questions. Have a look and get to know the CD personally.  1. What is the item from your home you could not live without when moving into the CD house in Brussels?… Read more →

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Besides the busy life of the Comité Directeur (CD) members focused on the development of our association, The AEGEEan had the chance to ask the CD members some personal questions. Have a look and get to know the CD personally. 

1. What is the item from your home you could not live without when moving into the CD house in Brussels?

Anna Gots (Financial Director): The pinky calculator from Espe (Remark from The AEGEEan: Esperanza Rodriguez Medina, the President of Audit Commission), which she presented to me at the Spring Agora Enschede.

Miguel Gallardo Albajar (Projects Director): I always travel with my Swiss army knife. It can be very useful during the transition barbeque to look really prepared for anything in front of some of our stakeholders.

Beáta Matuszka (Network and Human Resources Director): I was thinking for a while, as usually I am not really attached to anything, but then I realised what was half of my luggage: my Irish step shoes and my Italian/Hungarian coffee maker. It is really unfortunate that I cannot use the first one for a quite long period of time, but I do my best to get back on the track – at least my CD fellows don’t need to stand that I am dancing around in the house in those noisy shoes like Flatley.

Kathrin Renner (Vice President and External Relations Director): I created quite some laughter when I arrived to the house, because as I had the luxury of my parents bringing me with quite a big car, I took everything. The item that caused most amusement was my beloved mirror, white, baroque style. Huge. Yes, I brought a mirror. My second item was Winnie Pooh: I got him from the CD 2010-2011 when I left the house as assistant. Now he had to come back home of course.

Pavel Zbornik (European Institutions and Communications Director): I have a bit geeky answer, I brought with me my external drive where I have all my music, movies and other important data.

Lucille Rieux (Secretary General): I came by car to Brussels, so for once, I was not as limited as when travelling by car. For me it was very important to be able to carry my guitar along with me. I am not a professional player, but having it around makes me feel better, and playing guitar is one of easy ways for me to rest my mind and disconnect from everything just by playing a bit. I also figured out that it could be nice for my housemates to have some live music once in a while. 

Luis Alvarado Martinez (President): My favourite item is my Ipod with my music.

2. What do you drink in the morning, coffee or tea?

Anna: Tea.

Miguel: I am more for milk with cereals… but if I have to choose, it will be tea.

Beata: Oh, definitely coffee! I love special coffees, their taste and smell, so sometimes it’s not just addiction, but state of art.

Kathrin: It depends on the mood, but mainly tea.

Pavel: Black tea.

Lucille: I am a tea-addicted, easy to decide.

Luis: Depends how much I have slept the night before.

3. How well do you speak French? If yes, how would you translate the following sentence: “The next year will be the best time of my life.”

Anna: Well, my French is zero level so far. Therefore, in order not to cheat, I’ll leave this sentence to my colleagues for proper translation.

Miguel: I have been living in francophone countries for several years, so even if my Spanish accent is still strong, I do speak French rather well. Writing it is another matter, as I haven’t had many opportunities to properly study French. Let’s give it a try: “L’année prochaine serait le meilleur temps dans ma vie”

Beata: I am deeply in love with the French language, unfortunately sometimes I feel that this feeling is not mutual. I was learning for some years and I have general and economic language exam, but the level I can speak now is similar to Joey’s from the Friends: 

“Phoebe: Well this looks pretty simple. Ok repeat after me: “Je m’appelle Claude”.
Joey: (…) “Je de coupe plough!”
(Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0583457/quotes)

Kathrin: Well, I can understand some, but when I try to speak I mostly mix it up with Spanish. Therefore, according to tradition: “El año que viene será el mejor año de mi vida.”

Pavel: In French I can say “Je ne sais pas” and there my knowledge ends.

Lucille: I think my French level is quite good, but I still lost a lot of my fluidity in the last years.
I am half kidding, because I think I lived too much time outside of France, and now I sometimes have trouble in building correctly the sentences in French, because I am used to other languages structure…But still, I can manage the translation: L’année a venir sera sans aucun doute, la meilleure année de ma vie.

Luis: I did my Erasmus in France and of course having Lucille near allows me to practice a lot, but of course there is always room for improving!: “Le prochaine année sera la meilleure de toute ma vie.”

4. What piece of furniture do you like most in the CD house?

Anna: My bed. 

Miguel: No doubt, the barbeques in the garden!

Beata: The tiger counts as furniture already, I would choose that. 

Kathrin: My bed. 

Pavel: I don’t have yet any particular piece of furniture which I like more or less, it is just furniture.

Lucille: As you might know, the house is not in its best shape, and there are barely good quality furniture around, but well, I’d say I love the water boiler.

Luis: My bed.

5. If you would have the chance to move the CD house to any other place in Europe, where would that be and why?

Anna: I still believe that the place of CD house is definitely in Brussels. Though in case there were other options, I would have moved it to the country, where visa regulations are not that strict.

Miguel: Well, I think that even with the weather and grey sky, there is no most suitable place for AEGEE to be located than Brussels. However, instead of Schaarbeek I would love to have the house closer to the city center, in a cosy neighbourhood walking distance from the center.

Beata: Hm, I am not the best person to ask, because I would definitely say Ireland, but I don’t even want to explain this, everyone already knows my reasons behind. Or I would move it to the UK – same weather, but better surrounding.

Kathrin: Barcelona or Lisboa! Somewhere where the weather is better, the sky is less grey and living is less expensive for sure.

Pavel: We were in August in Grand Canaria and it is not such a bad place for the CD house.

Lucille: I guess somewhere sunny wouldn’t be bad, I think the weather definitely influences a lot on our mood, so I’d very likely move it to a southern country, let’s see, Portugal, Spain or Italy…or a central city wouldn’t be bad either, like Budapest or Berlin. 

Luis: Las Palmas GC, of course because of the weather.

6. Is there a CD appointed person for your lovely rabbits in the garden?

Miguel: Well, Kathrin feeds them (a lot) and I chase the cats off the garden in my free time. Apart from that, they are not included in the task division so I guess it is more of a common task.

Kathrin: I guess my motherly instincts have taken over and currently I am the one that feeds them most.

Luis: Miguel because he is the biologist.

(Remark from The AEGEEan: The other CD members also answered that Kathrin is taking care of the rabbits.)

7. Personally, what do you wish to achieve within the next year? 

Anna: Personal growth: new knowledge, new experience, new challenges to overcome; learn myself better in order to improve; find out what I want to do further; become more confident; learn how to live with somebody and how to cook.

Miguel: If by the end of the next summer I have some spin-off adventure planned (a trip around the world, an interesting job opportunity, a challenging project to carry on) I will be more than satisfied. But right now it is too early to know what and how. The year will be long and full of learning, so whatever I imagine now will differ much of the real happenings in the summer 2013. And I like it this way.

Beata: This year is a really outstanding possibility to learn those things I never imagined I have the possibility to try out in my life. What I want to achieve is all rather connected to AEGEE, I would be more than satisfied if I realised all the dreams and ideas I started my year with and maybe a bit even more.

Kathrin: A lot of things. First of all, my tasks as External Relations Director as such come with challenges which I am really looking forward to. External representation and negotiation with partners are fields where I can learn extremely much in terms of networking, professionalism, communication. Then, of course, I am looking forward to playing my part in managing the team dynamics, coaching the others and being coached, learning together and pushing each other to new limits.

Pavel: Enjoy Brussels, not to be slave of my inbox and have non-AEGEE activities.

Lucille: I am sure this year will be a great opportunity to expand my comfort zone, just because living together with your team of co-workers, who also turn out to be your friend, is not a simple story.  I am sure I will become more self-aware of myself and my habits, whether they are nice or less nice ones, becoming more open-minded but also enjoying the potential of group thinking! Of course, after this year, I hope I will have a clearer idea of what is it that I want to carry out in my future, because I consider this year as a chance, to actually explore different topics, different situations. If in one year, if I have a clearer picture of who I want to be and what is it that I want to make a real change about for the next years, I will be extremely happy.  

Luis: Finish the term proud of the job we have done and given to the association and having grown a lot.

8. What is your favourite type of chocolate/beer/ice cream?

Anna: Very dark chocolate (90%) or a bit lighter one with the walnuts.

Miguel: I like beers with character, so I am escaping the mainstream beers like Heineken whenever I can. Here in Brussels it is like a paradise for me, as they are proud of the beers and they really have a variety.There are more beers than opportunities for tasting them all. No stress!
Regarding chocolate, I like it dark and bitter. Combined with red chilli is great if the proportions are right.
Ice cream-wise: I like them all, but I prefer not to combine fruit-based ice creams with milk-based ice creams.

Beata: I didn’t have the possibility to taste the Belgian chocolates, so my favourite one is still the Cadbury (Brussels has one year to change my taste). Regarding the beers: I didn’t really buy that many kind of beers in Belgium yet but I went to a Belgian beer festival in Budapest in June and I fell in love with the Mongozo banana beer. But I prefer rather ciders than beers (e.g. Asturian sidra or Strongbow). Ice cream? Well, in Budapest there is a nice place where they make rose-shaped ice cream (near the Basilica), but the Möwenpick’s ice creams are also not bad. 

Kathrin: Dark chocolate for sure/Castel Red, a dark cherry beer I discovered in Belgium and Ginger ice cream that you can get in a cafe in Passau.

Pavel: I’m not a big fan of chocolate or ice cream so I’ll answer about beer only. Belgium has many different types of beer and I would say that I mostly enjoy Lambic.

Lucille: I love milk chocolate, white beer and of course, chocolate ice-cream.

Luis: White chocolate always! Any beer will do! Yogurt ice cream!

9. If you would have the choice to learn the native language of one of your CD members, which language would it be and why?

Anna: I guess I would go for French, it sounds very good.

Miguel: I wish I could learn German just by wishing it, because it is a very useful one, but this has not been a strong enough reason to motivate me to learn it. On the other hand, learning to speak Russian has always been in my mind because of all the territory that it opens for traveling and discovery. And well, how cool it would be to speak a language like Czech or Hungarian!

Beata: I already started French and Spanish in high school and continued during my university year, it would be great to improve them. But if I had all the time of the world, I would learn all of them, I really like to feel confident in a country and one of the ways is to know the language.

Kathrin: French, because now I realise how useful it is. Spanish, because I can speak it already, but I would love to speak it perfectly. Czech because I always wanted to be able to speak a Slavic language. Hard to decide.

Pavel: It would be Spanish and Russian which at some point I started to learn, but didn’t get so far.

Lucille:  Haha, I haven’t yet heard Pavel speaking in its native language, so I don’t know how Czech sounds like. I think it would be cool to know how to speak German, because it is a very useful language, and Germany is a country I’d be happy to explore. I should see with Kathrin if I can trade some French stuff for her German skills.

Luis: I would ask Anna to teach me Russian or maybe Kathrin to teach me German! Hungarian would be way too hard!

Written by Stephanie Müller, AEGEE-Heidelberg

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Who is behind the Academy? ../../../2012/01/17/who-is-behind-the-academy/ ../../../2012/01/17/who-is-behind-the-academy/#comments Tue, 17 Jan 2012 08:03:40 +0000 ../../../?p=3076 Here they are back again! The AEGEE-Academy board is more motivated and active than ever and has decided to give the AEGEE-Academy (ACA) a 180º turn in order to ensure its correct functioning and maximum contribution to the to AEGEE’s network. With the aim of bringing the ACA closer to the network and making the most of AEGEE’s potential, we… Read more →

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Here they are back again! The AEGEE-Academy board is more motivated and active than ever and has decided to give the AEGEE-Academy (ACA) a 180º turn in order to ensure its correct functioning and maximum contribution to the to AEGEE’s network.

With the aim of bringing the ACA closer to the network and making the most of AEGEE’s potential, we decided to meet in order to draft the strategy for the upcoming months.

During our meeting in Brussels, in AEGEE-Europe’s headquarter, we discussed, planned, argued, debated, and brainstormed for long hours to bring the ACA to its best shape, just like in its glorious years.

Get ready for many new trainings full of skilled trainers, inspiration and lots of passion which will for sure bring many unforgettable memories and will change you for better to become those skilled and efficient youth activist we want you to be.

And now…

 

 

Meet the people who are making this change possible:

Miguel Gallardo Albajar- Speaker

Miguel was elected for a second term as Speaker of the AEGEE-Academy and he will do his best to lead this amazing team until the Spring Agora Enschede 2012.

He has been actively involved in the local and European level since 2007. He was President in his antenna and still has an advisory role there. He founded the Environmental Working Group at the Agora Valletta with some crazy friends, with whom he also participated actively in all steps of the Flagship Project 2008-2009 Sustaining Our Future. He also contributed to publications like the Members’ Manual and several Key to Europe editions. He has also been Subcommie of the NetCom for 2 years.

In the training world he is a great fan of SUPS, a training course which has been a great pleasure for him until now. He has also been involved in PRES2, ES1 and provided the content for several NWMs and LTCs. As he said during Agora Alicante: “AEGEE has given so much to me, that I will never be able to give back enough”. But he tries hard by sharing his experience and motivating new members to pursue their dreams!

Edouard Mougin – Secretary

Edouard is one of the most recent Academy members, but he has lots of motivation to be the new secretary of this inspiring board. He started on the local level by being the secretary of AEGEE-Lyon in February 2010, then became President and now he is External Relationships Responsible. Eager to discover the European level, he started by being Juridical Commission subcommissioner and later was elected JC President.
Always looking for more experiences and news things to learn, he also recently joint several projects about developing HR in AEGEE with the NetCom and the newly created Human Resources Committee. In this field, he will also be the contact person for the upcoming HRES Kyïv 2012.

Esperanza Rodríguez – Treasurer

Espe is the new treasurer of the Academy, ready to study the numbers and any other challenge that may come up!

She is not a really old member in AEGEE, but she climbed the career ladder rather fast. She is very involved on the local level and has organised many kinds of events, including an ES1. She has also been in the board of AEGEE-Las Palmas as a treasurer, fundraiser and she is the President right now. She got really inspired during the ES1 and decided to become active on the European level too. She has been the President of the Audit Commission since Alicante, and was re-elected in Skopje.

 

Miroslava Garzarcikova – Human Resources Manager

Mirka has been an active AEGEE member for several years already. First on the local level (board member and later President of AEGEE-Bratislava) and then also on the European level – she was a project manager of “YOUrope needs YOU 2” and trainer for the Academy.
Last year, she was in the Comité Directeur 2010/2011, in charge of Human Resources.

Outside of AEGEE, she is working full-time in an international recruitment event agency, so she’s fully dedicated to the world of HR management.

 

Luis Alvarado Martínez – PR Manager

Luis Alvarado comes from AEGEE-Las Palmas and is a hyperactive AEGEE addict. After trying AEGEE out for the first time, he could not stop, and ever since he has been looking for more. He has been, and still is, active both on local and European level of AEGEE.

Throughout his AEGEE career, he has been the President of AEGEE-Las Palmas, advisory board, and currently he is External Relations responsible. He has also been Subcommie of Sara Vierna, and at the moment he is Network Commissioner for Spanish, French and Portuguese locals. He has also been involved in projects and in the training world. After having attended several AEGEE trainings  like LTC’s, being an ES1 participant and coordinator, attending an ES2 and external tranings (like Leadership Summer School by IFISO, or International Work School by Spanish Youth Council and European Youth Forum), he has become addicted to them, and is always looking for an excuse to attend a new one.

At the moment he is also involved in the Spanish Youth Council, working in the International Relations Committe. He has been trainer at SUPS, Manager of ES1 Passau and he is contact person for ACA for the next Traing 4 Trainers.

Florence Franks – Projects Responsible
Flo has been an AEGEE-addicted since 2008 and has participated in several European events within and outside AEGEE. Currently, she is also involved in other international project teams. She is a member of the Culture and Education Working Group. Of course she loves travelling, exploring ,and meeting cool people. She likes people that “read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do.”
She believes in the AEGEE motto: “We Make Europe Happen!”, for this reason she is an enthusiastic volunteer, addicted to trainings, and projects.
She started the AEGEE adventure being Vice-President of her first local, now she is enthusiastic member of AEGEE-Siena. She has been PR responsible in the Culture Action Days project and AEGEE25 project.She was part of the coordination team of Leadership Summer School 2011, organized within IFISO platform, and she is looking forward to contribute to the 2012 edition. In the Academy she will take care of the projects, ensuring a nice, smooth, and proper communication with hosting locals, trainers and ACA board. She will support PR and the implementation of new projects.
As if all this was not enough, we also count on the endless suport from Guillermo García Tabarés, HR Director of Comité
Directeur 2011-2012! Thanks to him once more.

Academically yours,

The AEGEE-Academy Board

Miguel, Edu, Espe, Mirka, Flo and Luis

Written by Luis Alvarado, the Academy

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