Now that the new Comité Directeur has officially started its term, it is again time to take a closer look at our new board members. Once you do that, you will notice something very outstanding amongst the different AEGEEans, namely the hair of our President, Paul Smits. The AEGEEan started an investigation and found out different things you can do with the Presidential Hair.

Being the President of AEGEE-Europe means you have to unite more or less 13,000 people of more than 150 different locals. Luckily, the Presidential Hair offers more than enough space for all of the stickers of different locals, united on the head of our President…

…which leads to great picture moments, because you just do not only get the President and his awesome modeling poses on the picture, but also several AEGEE locals!

Bonding to members is also done by sharing something very important, namely the Holy Curls. Guys who look so much alike must also think alike!

Next to these three useful qualities, the Presidential Hair also comes with some more practical benefits, like a little bit of extra height in group pictures, making you stand out from the rest, while also looking like the tallest guy around. Height does matter, after all!

However, being a tall Dutch guy you might sometimes bump into things like low ceilings, but luckily the Presidential Hair also functions as a free head-protector!

Next to this practical function, the Presidential Hair may also be used to hide things you don’t want to be stolen, like sunglasses or even voting ballots!

But you can’t hide yourself, because the Presidential Hair always draws some attention. Of course, this means that the rest of the Comité Directeur will never lose their leader, but it also means that ‘Where’s Paul?’ should not be introduced as a new AEGEE game.

Luckily for Paul, there are such things as straighteners, (a lot of) hairspray and (again a lot of) girls willing to help so every now and then he can go ‘undercover’ with a completely different look. How flexible!

Seeing all the benefits that the Presidential Hair comes with, it stands for sure that the Curliness deserves some decoration. The President himself also realized too, and found appropriate decorations!

Written by Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen, with a huge thank you to Paul Smits for giving the Presidential permission to publish

Group sessions about different aspects of working in the board of AEGEE-Europe, information about different initiatives that have to be followed up, visits to the European Parliament and other partners and stakeholders and a teambuilding weekend: after an extensive Knowledge Transfer period, taking place from the 14th until the 31st of July and the official start of their term on the 1st of August, the 52nd Comité Directeur (CD) is ready to rock! The AEGEEan interviewed Aleksandra, Antonija, Holger, Ioana, Ivan, Mayri and Paul about their first impressions of Brussels and the CD house, the Knowledge Transfer and their plans for the upcoming year.

A lot was discussed during the two weeks of Knowledge Transfer, so the question that arises is what the most interesting or funny thing that the new CD members have learned is. For the new Projects and Communications Director, Mayri Tiido, this was “a lot of Slovak wisdom thanks to Ivan [Bielik]” while Ivan himself, Human Resources Director, thought the most interesting aspect “was to observe other board members in non-AEGEE-related activities”. Both President Paul Smits and Vice-President/External Relations Director Aleksandra Kluczka agree that it was interesting to get to know the other team members. As Paul explains: “all the AEGEE knowledge was expected – the details were new, but not too surprising. However, with people it is always a new discovery how they feel, think and live.”

Antonija Parat, Secretary General, found it very interesting to see “how AEGEE is perceived here in Brussels, and to learn more about the different organisations and partners we work with”, while Network Director Holger Schmitt had a very interesting experience being interviewed by two journalists about the role of AEGEE as a student organisation and recording AEGEE’s standpoint on education in short clips. “It was the first time of feeling in charge to represent AEGEE and formulate our goals and visions.” He also remarks another responsibility the new Comité Directeur had to take up, namely the fixing of the floors in the dining and meeting room. As Interim Financial Director Ioana Duca summarizes: “Everything was interesting – it’s amazing to learn so many things from the “oldies”!”

Even before their term officially started, the new Comité Directeur already started taking up some of the tasks they are officially fulfilling now. Mayri has been in charge of the social media platforms, while Ivan is keeping himself busy with – of course – Human Resources, internal education and design. Holger has already got in contact with the Network Commission, but also with external partners and stakeholders he will be in charge of. Antonija and Ioana focused on the expected tasks, respectively administrational tasks and finances. Ola has took up the communication with some of the external partners and started to prepare the AEGEE anniversary, while Paul isn’t only busy with his presidential tasks but has also become the “IT-god”, which means that he is arranging that people can actually use their phones and computers in the house.  “Luckily Ivan will take care of the main website and Holger is managing Podio for us.”

Even though their term has already begun, the team members had some tasks they looked forward to taking up. For Ivan this is the position paper on education, while Aleksandra and Antonija are eager to start developing the Activity Plan “and hopefully achieving the goals we set for ourselves”. Holger is looking forward to “finally be entirely in charge of our beloved Network. As Network Director I adopted 13,000 members and 200 locals for whom I feel a lot of responsibility!”. Last but not least, Paul is ready to work on the ongoing communications, but next to that he also wants “to start working on our own ideas after almost three weeks of brainwashing”. Last but not least, Mayri is looking forward to moving into the room, while Ioana says that “it’s not only the tasks, but the beginning of a new life!”

Of course, we were also curious what the team members think of their new house and hometown. “I really like Brussels”, Mayri says, “as it feels like it has a lot to offer in terms of events, people, shops and culture”. Holger adds to this: “I just love to be in a three- or sometimes even four-lingual (Dutch, French, English, German) city and to understand almost everything, although I have to work on my Dutch!”. Paul wasn’t that impressed at first, but luckily it became better after the city tour by Miguel. “I am really curious how my life will be in the upcoming year outside working hours, and I hope to find lots of nice things to do!” As Aleksandra summarizes: “I think that it’s a good place to live – there are a lot of opportunities for development and participation, but also culture and leisure time. At the same time it is quite a small city compared to many capitals, which makes it cosy.”

The Comité Directeur House has also happily been accepted. As Holger tells us: “I really love our CD house and I already feel responsible for keeping it in shape and presentable to our guests. Like some people in the institutions, I also like to call our house the ‘AEGEE Embassy’ where we can present our work and projects to externals. Indeed, we are living very close together, but the house also offers enough space to find your own place to work and relax while you can quickly switch and socialize with your team members or guests in the house if you want to”. All of the members already have a favorite room too. For Ivan this one is the archives, while Mayri prefers the office and Ioana and Aleksandra like to spend their time in the garden. Paul recommends the attic, because “you can watch the stars from there, but it’s dusty and has a bad climate too.” Holger really likes the meeting room “because it is very light, has a nice working atmosphere where you can focus on your own tasks and it is also the room for discussions, meeting and developing new ideas and concepts in the team which I like very much”. For unknown reasons Antonija enjoys sitting on the stairs. “I already have my preferred place on the stairs, and my team members are teasing me for this habit.”

Asked who the mommy of the house will be, all girls agree that this must be Ioana. “She is already the mommy of the house”, Aleksandra tells us. As for cooking, the team will try to cook together as much as possible to ensure some quality time with the team. As mommy Ioana explains: “We’’ll cook all together as a family!” According to Aleksandra, Ioana is also the “most creative cook”. Antonija on the other side puts herself in the “don’t-know-how-to-cook-category, but I’m learning.”

Written by Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen