Léa Charlet, 24 years old from AEGEE-Paris, is one of the three candidates for the position of President of AEGEE-Europe. She studies Law and European institutions and has been member of AEGEE-Paris since september 2011. She was HR, Secretary and President in her local and involved in the European Level as Fair Manager EBM Valletta 2013, Trainer of the Academy, Public Relations responsible of Speak Up! (2011-2012), CD assistant and, last but not least, Project manager of Y Vote 2014.

The AEGEEan: What do you think the main task as a president will be?

Léa: For me, being President means representing all the members. Once you are elected, it’s not like you can do whatever you want, you have to listen and take into consideration the needs of your members. The main challenge is to balance all of these opinions and to do what’s best, in the end, for the organisation. As President of the Comité Directeur, you need to keep the team together. You need to facilitate the creation of the vision of this Comité Directeur. You need to make everyone listen too, and make them achieve their goals and their own vision.

The AEGEEan: If you are going to be elected as president of AEGEE-Europe, what will be the first thing you will do?

Léa: First things first, I will find a week before the start of the knowledge transfer to organize a team building. I think this is a fundamental start. Working and living with six people for a year is difficult (even if I know  most of the people applying quite well). We need to find a common vision, and we need to be ready to accept each other, adapt, and to help each other learn and grow. Second would be the creation of an activity plan. Our programs need to be merged. We need to prioritize and work to actually achieve everything in one year time. I do not always believe in compromises, but more in creating our own plan, our own vision, where nobody feels left out of the process.

The AEGEEan: What is leadership for you?

Léa: I am playing the trumpet for quite some time now and I have also been conducting for a couple of years now. I have always been amazed by this feeling you have when being in the middle of the orchestra, playing your individual part following the conductor, but at the same time knowing every single other part from other instruments. This is how I see leadership. It’s not always about being the best in something, but much more having the overview, helping other people reaching what they want to achieve with others,  looking in the same direction, making them feel part of something bigger.

The AEGEEan: How would you describe in one sentence the current situation of AEGEE, regarding internal structures and activities?

Léa: Not reaching its potential.

The AEGEEan: Luis Alvarado Martinez was President for two years and he has a lot of charisma. What would you do differently than him?

Léa: I actually met Luis on my first event, my first month in AEGEE, and I was always driven by his vision and his motivation to make our association truly meaningful. I always admired his work as president. That being said, this past two years, the Comite Directeur turned itself towards externals a lot. I think it’s great that we are now really known and appreciated in the different institutions and among other NGOs. I am not saying that the actual Comite Directeur forgot the network, but the pace is hard to follow. Even being an active member and quite aware of what was happening, it’s difficult to have a clear overview of what AEGEE is doing in every sector.

So I would maybe have focused more on bringing the externals to the locals, trying more to consult with the members, in order to bring the Comite Directeur closer to the members. I realized during my internship in the Comite Directeur that it will be a lot of work, and we will have to be really committed to do this the right way, but it also requires will and awareness from the network.

The AEGEEan: In your opininion, is AEGEE really working well enough at all levels?

Léa: You can see in my previous answers that I don’t believe that AEGEE is working as well as it could be. We have a lot of potential, but face a lot of obstacles coming from the organisation itself. I already mentioned and explained most of the problems I saw there and tried to propose solutions: the lack of coordination, of human resources and the difficulty of conserving memories; the flow of great initiatives from the Comite Directeur that are hard to follow by the network, and the fact that we don’t have enough discussion and consultation in the network. We also have to be aware that right now, AEGEE is driven by Summer Universities. Most of our members are joining for this project and aren’t active after. We should work on activating and empowering those members, which could significantly increase the human resources of the organisation.

The AEGEEan: We speak a lot about the gap between the European level and locals. What do you think we need to do to fill it?

Léa: I don’t believe in this separation. The so called ‘European Level’ are regular members, organizing projects of AEGEE-Europe. Most of the time, organizing projects in locals can be just as challenging. The main problem in my opinion is that sometimes locals don’t have the knowledge to organize an event on a topic tackled by a thematic part of AEGEE and thematic bodies are not responsive enough, because they don’t have the human resources nor the capacity to be everywhere. We should work on two things: knowledge in the locals about European bodies, and an increase of human resources in those european bodies. These are the two homework assignments we have to do.

The AEGEEan: On your application you said that “we lack of coordination sometimes“. How would you improve it?

Léa: I meant two things with this sentence: one on a timeframe level and one on a thematic level. Timeframe: most of the events are happening at the same time. We have to cancel a lot, because we are not aware of what is happening in the different parts of the network. Thematically speaking: we have projects, working groups, an action agenda with concrete activities and plenty of space for the locals to do something within these fields, but still we are not always looking in the same direction. We don’t always act like a network. I think here the work of the Action Agenda Coordination team, Netcom and the new Quality Assurance committee are fundamental. They are the link, they are the ones that can help the locals to plan and cooperate.

The AEGEEan: You said “We tend to forget our past”. How will you create a common memory?

Léa: ‘”Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” George Santayana.

Sometimes we might repeat the good things from the past, but for this, we have to know it. The current Comité Directeur is doing some work on the archive, but as always with archives, there is always something to be done. We have to take it out of the basement, and really give the possibility for our members to read it, digitalize it for example. But, more importantly, we have to start thinking also of the next generation. We need to keep track of the present for the future and we have to realize this in our current activities. Keep track of what we do and how we do it. We can for example take the work The Academy is doing right now, creating a database of trainings, accessible easily; or the ongoing work on the AEGEE Wiki.

The AEGEEan: What do you think is the current status of the relationship with The Academy? If there is a problem, how will you solve it?

Léa: Trainings are here to empower and develop our members, to facilitate the learning process. Right now, in my opinion we have two main actors: Network Commission, who is aware of the flow of their locals and what trainings they would need right now, and The Academy, who has the resources and the will to create trainings. What I would really like to see in the future is more cooperation between those two actors: having trainings the organisation needs, in the part of the Network which needs it the most. I think a really important point here is to rethink the point and the concept of regional training courses. This should be done in cooperation with the Academy

The AEGEEan: Let’s speak about thematic conferences, can you give an example?

Léa: A thematic conference for me is firstly meant to inform and inspire our members. The EBM is a big example, but we can do much more. In the past six months, we organized nine thematics conventions with a part of the Y Vote team, always about different topics. We realized, talking to enthusiastic participants, that it was something really missing in our Network. I’m not talking here about another 300 people conference, but medium ones, with 50 to 100 people, on the four differents focus area of our strategic plan for example.

The AEGEEan: Can you please explain a bit more about the creation of a Secretariat?

Léa: Our headoffice is in Brussels, and we have to realize that to get big grants, big projects take years. We need to have a certain continuity. We can see it in our locals, this is taking time. And especially in this Eurobubble in Brussels, personal connections and personal network are key. A Secretariat can be the bridge between Comité Directeurs changing every year. It would also let the CD focus on the association more than the administrative tasks.

The AEGEEan: Do you think the Network needs to stop enlarging and enforce or should it keep on “watching outside”?

Léa: I don’t think it’s that black and white. We have some of our newest locals that are already extremely active, with a great understanding of what AEGEE is. And some old locals that are just surviving. AEGEE is constantly changing. New locals are joining and some are deleted, it is a natural process. In the past five years, our number of locals decreased quite a lot (around 50), and if we stop getting new locals, we will endanger AEGEE in the next years.

The AEGEEan: 30 years will be a huge achievement, what are you plans?

Léa: 30 years is the achievement of the whole organisation, a celebration for all of us. I don’t have everything perfectly clear already, but I can say that the Comité Directeur should not be alone organizing this event, and I hope that many members (new, current and a bit less new) will be willing to join this initiative. I would love to have the celebration in one of the funding locals, a mix of success stories with oldies and a local willing to contribute.

The AEGEEan: Lately you attended a lot of network meetings, was it because you were interested in the topics or because of CD campaign?

Léa: Since I’ve been a member of AEGEE, I attended all the network meetings of my area (except 1 for exam reasons), so last year in autumn I was also interested to know how it works in another part of the network. I am studying in Brussels, that’s why I went to NWM Utrecht in december. I also went to Salerno this month, being a member of AEGEE-Bologna it was also a logical area to go. I know Italy as I lived there for more than a year, but I didn’t know this part of the network, and this was also my main goal going there. I can say that now I have a better overview of different regions of our network, nothing in depth of course, but it helped me understand the reality of our locals quite a lot.

The AEGEEan: What are you strengths? And your weaknesses?

Léa: People usually describe me as an energetic, hard working, convinced,  and convincing person. But I would say that I think my biggest strength is that I am always willing to learn. On the weakness part I will have to say that I reaaally need a lot of sleep. I realized it when doing the internship and traveling a lot for Y Vote. I am also a really empathic person, I sometimes tend to be oversensitive to other people problems.

The AEGEEan: Réka Salamon (AEGEE-Aachen) is doing the internship with you in the CD house and Paul Smits (AEGEE-Enschede) came out a little bit as a surprise as a candidate. What do you think about your fellow candidates?

Léa: I attended Leadership Summer School in Sofia with Paul and I appreciate and respect him and his work within our association. I know Réka a bit less in general, but I would say that she has been an asset for the communication in the Y Vote 2014 team and she is a really hardworking person.

The AEGEEan: Why do you think that people must vote for you? What are your plans if you are elected as president?

Léa: Since I entered AEGEE I was kind of interested in becoming part of the Comité Directeur. This might seem like a bit too much, but I have always been a super active member, at local level and european level since the first month I entered. My field of study and the fact that I was spending ¾ on my time on AEGEE work always motivated me to do more.

Why president then? Because I believe I am good at making the link: between people, between projects. I think I can see how to put ideas into practices. My team members are easily becoming friends and motivating people is something that I really enjoy. I would not say that people must vote for me, but that they should if they do believe in my ideas, in my capacity as a president and as a leader.

I wrote my programme already and I would like to highlight that it is a fact that I believe that the members are the most important part of our organisation. Right now most of our members are not active, we have to face it. My main focus would be to help activating those members, in order for AEGEE to become a strong organisation. The external impact of AEGEE cannot happen if we don’t have an impact on our own members first.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Venezia

He  joined AEGEE in 2011 and, after a long experience in the local level as former PR reponsible and current president of AEGEE-Debrecen, he’s now  running for Network Commission at the upcoming Spring Agora Patra. Balázs Kovács, also known as “Bali”, was interviewed by the AEGEEan in order to get more information about himself and his candidature.

The AEGEEan: Being a NetCommie is not an easy task. It is very demanding. What pushed you to apply for this position?
Balázs: I am the type of person who particularly enjoys empowering others while also gaining considerable amount of personal inspiration from fueling co-operation among like-minded people. I enjoy being around and working with and for people on daily matters from a more strategic point of view with a hint of thinking-out-of-the-box kind of a creative approach.

In my opinion, there is still a large need to keep inspiring more members and locals to continue discovering all the potentials this amazing Network embodies.  I believe that even small antennae have a lot of unlocked available resources and co-operations to capitalize from in order to further develop themselves. Thus, once getting elected, I would like to take up the challenge of contributing to empowering antennae nearby to keep on aiming higher as well as boosting their collaborations by offering my ideas and time. Since, I believe, our great predecessors will provide us, potential future Network Commissioners, with a quality transition period filled with attentive knowledge transfer, I believe we will be able to do our very best to keep going on with their quality work as a strong new Network Commission Team.

The AEGEEan: Anna Móricz, the previous NetCom of the region you are from, resigned and an open call was issued for a NetCom Assistant to replace her. Did you apply for that?
Balázs: I have not applied to become the NetCom Assistant since my local duties as a president of AEGEE-Debrecen occupy all my free time substantially.

The AEGEEan: The local activity of AEGEE-Debrecen is very intense. How would you, as a Network Commissioner, motivate the other atennae to do the same? How would you encourage them?
Balázs: I intend to encourage as many members of antennae to participate in numerous cross-border best practice sharing events among each other as well as with other youngsters from different INGYOs. These training events are the most ideal platforms where future collaborations would be born and intense enthusiasm is built which can continue fuel local activity in the long run.

I firmly believe that personal experiences are the best means to ignite a long-lasting flame of passion among volunteers thus I also like to encourage antennae to organize cultural exchanges among each other, especially in their region. The most effective trust building for future professional collaborations (to organize joint thematic events) could be carried out by starting with more informal mutual ventures.

Moreover, if I will elected, I also prefer visiting as many of my potential future antennae as possible right in the beginning of the academic year in order to build trust and bonds we can later build on. I would like to establish our co-operation based on a shared vision and a clearly structured plan.

The AEGEEan: Do you think your studies in Media and Comunication can help you is your task?
Balázs: My addressed studies are among the highlights of my life that taught me a lot about being attentive, alert, self-aware, emphatic, clear, and more concise so I am sure they will help me a lot.

The AEGEEan: Anna was in charge of a relatively small network. If you will be elected, would you like to “keep” only the present locals or extend the current mini network more?
Balázs: As of now, we are in talks and it is yet to be decided based on the opinions and inputs of the antennae nearby as well as on the points of view of the current Network Commissioners. I am open for changes though.

The AEGEEan: Could you explain more about your idea of a mentorship program?
Balázs: I have been a huge fan of inter-generational networking ever since I was a kid. I have done an extensive research on all the lines of my family trees. When I contacted and interviewed distant relatives of mine, one would normally never even hear about, I realized how much is being forgotten and overlooked from our history, even when the resources of knowledge is mostly available for a long time from older generations.

This works in the exact same way in NGOs. I think it should be considered a crucial matter to establish an overall tradition for every current active members of AEGEE to have a personal mentor. The mentors would be former long-time active AEGEEans, ideally of the same local. This could further make us all more interconnected via the association. It would, furthermore, not only enrich our organizational culture but also could lead to slowing down the process of forgetting about our local history.

The AEGEEan: You attended a lot of AEGEE events. How did this manage to change your vision of AEGEE and its aims?
Balázs: I have been very blessed all throughout my AEGEE years. I have joined an amazingly diverse yet well-functioning local team, delivering numerous good results regardless of our HR shortcomings. I attended events enriching me with lifetime lessons, experiences and valuable encounters. AEGEE grew on me and in a very good way.
What attending all those events has done to me in this respect was becoming aware of where I can still contribute while also challenging myself.

The AEGEEan: There is an often-discussed gap between the local and European levels. Would you consider making some implementations to reduce it? In case you have already thought about it, what are the ideas you would like to be put to work?
Balázs: To put it all simple, I would say that I gradually came to realize that AEGEE’s most important strength is essentially its very own obstacle; the immense diversity of our activities. This makes it all hard to present ourselves as a precisely labeled brand serving everyone’s personal needs at once.

It requires a lot of energy, work and dedication to transmit what the European Level means, and it definitely has to become an integral part of all AEGEE events as long as all experienced AEGEEans, from all walks of our association, especially from the EL bodies will actively contribute to coming up with a common initiative about making our members familiar with what the EL deals with. Recording and spreading personal stories could and would make a huge difference, yet it cannot be solely the responsibility of the Network Commission, they entire EL should take an overall ownership of it.

The AEGEEan: Why should people vote for you? What do you think what are your strong points?
Balázs: I am dedicated, flexible, motivated, resourceful, energetic, and creative. I have built up a considerable contact network from other INGYOs up until now from my past NGO work experiences. This, combined with others’ contacts, would allow us to think out of the AEGEE box on a regular basis by cooperating with them after attending each others’ trainings.

I have also applied to some upcoming international large-scale European networking events for this summer, thus I hope I’ll be able to establish further valuable contacts for my potential future NetCom term serving the locals’ future plans.

Furthermore, I enjoy working with people, I am passion-driven and punctual when it comes to communicating, informing and inspiring others but I am also a team player, when it is needed, my general approach serves the best possible common good under all circumstances.

Written by Cosmina Bisboaca, AEGEE-Torino

Bartosz Sudorowski, or Bartek, has been a member of AEGEE-Zielona Góra since february 2010 and is very active on a local level ever since. At Autumn Agora Budapest he was elected Network Commissioner and now he aims to be the new Network Director of AEGEE-Europe. Let’s discover more about him.

The AEGEEan: Can you tell a little bit more about yourself?

Bartosz: So, I’m 23 years old and I’m studying Political Sciences, but before that I studied German. I love fishing and working in the garden. My hobby is singing. I sang both in a choir and in a blues band. I do not like when I’m alone… I have to be with people all the time. That’s why my familys keep on saying that I’m treating home as a hotel: I only sleep and eat there. I live in a small village 10 kilometres from Zielona Góra (where my local is), but I love it there, because I love nature, and I have the opportunity to spend time outside with fresh air. I’m a member of the fanclub for the speedway (a motorcycle sport ed.) team of my city.

The AEGEEan: What will be the first thing you will do as a Network director?

Bartosz: First, I would like to send an official communication to all the locals to introduce myself, hoping for fruitful cooperation between us. Next to that, I’ll send a survey to the Network Commissioner and Presidents, asking how they imagine our cooperation and what they expect from me. In my opinion, people have to take part in creating rules for work, because when the ideas about how to work together will come from them, it will be the best platform for us to cooperate in the best way. When just one person is making rules for cooperation between a lot of people, then it’s not democratic.

The AEGEEan: We know that regular CD members won’t have a fixed position, but you expressed the will to be Network Director. Currently, Pauline Létard (AEGEE-Toulouse) is running for the same position. What will you do if you are both elected?

Bartosz: It is very difficult to answer to this question. At first, we’ll discuss together with the other CD members and we will try to find the best solution for the Network. Then, when the decision is made (it doesn’t matter what we’ll decide), I’ll cooperate together with Pauline, and I’m sure that it will be a very fruitful cooperation. (By the time this interview was made, Pauline Létard was still running for a position in the Comité Directeur. She later withrew her candidature. ed)

The AEGEEan: On your application you mentioned the LSO. What is this exactly?

Bartosz: Local Status Overview. The Network Director has a database of all the locals with their points (it’s about fulfilling the Anntennae Criteria). As a former Netcom, President, and Secretary of a local I know very well how important it is to inform the Network Commissioners and boards about the current status of  their locals. I want to do my best in doing this task.

The AEGEEan: You wrote about having office hours during your time as Comité Directeur member. I presume you referred to 9 to 5 working hours. Do you think they are going to be  enough with the workload you have in the CD house?

Bartosz: I think that this is a misunderstanding. By creating office hours I meant that, apart from my standard work as Network Director, I would like to create a special duty for people. I’ll announce the office hours one week before, and I’ll be able to speak with everyone on Skype, mail, phone, Facebook, Twitter, and all the other platforms. This duty is the first step to make the European level closer to the local level.

The AEGEEan: The gap between the European Level and locals is under the sun. As CD member, how will you take care of this problem?

Bartosz: How the Network Director, Comité Directeur and all of the European level can be closer to the Network? They have to spend time with the people from the Network. We have to start with the easiest things, like even sleeping in the gym together. We have to be together with the people every time. Secondly, there is my idea about the duty of a Network Director. I think that all the bodies have to try to do this. We need to allocate a special session in every NWM about the European level as an obligatory part of the NWM’s agenda. I would like to cooperate with other bodies to create a special, cyclic, short program with the title: “Let’s know each other better”. Once per week we’ll publish three people who are active in the European level on Facebook and Twitter with their photo, a short description about their hobbies and generally about themselves with their contact information.

The AEGEEan: How do you think the lovely initiative to extend the Bone Marrow Donors Registration Day to all of the Network will match with the Network’s needs?

Bartosz: Again I have to clarify my idea. I would like to implement the idea of Bone Marrow Donors Registration Days beyond the borders of Poland. If locals accept and implement this idea, is a decision that can only be made by those locals. I know very well that all the locals have other needs and sometimes they have a very strict workplan throughout the year, so they may or may not accept this idea. However, I would like to say that thanks to this project AEGEE can have a common platform that will create more external recognition. That can be a part of our visibility. I know that for example the Summer Universities are very popular. But when an organization has a lovely initiative like this one as a flagship project, a platform to cooperate together all over the continent, all the medias could talk about us. Thanks to this, we’ll have more opportunities to find new partners, and finally and most importantly, we’ll have a real influence on saving lives. This is not only beautiful speaking, there are real numbers behind it. On the first edition, we got 5600 potential donors registered, in the second one 17500, and in the third 12500. In six days, only in one country, we registered more than 35 000 people. This is more than in the last five years in all of Europe! So back to the question – I think that a lot of locals will want to get involved with this beautiful idea.

And now, some questions from our readers.  

The AEGEEan: Do you consider yourself as a team player?

Bartosz: Yes, of course.  I’m in AEGEE for more than four years, and I was a part of a lot of different teams (9 LTC as a coordinator, trainer, team member, 4 NWM – 2 on the team, 2 as Netcom, member of a team/coordinator/helper of more than 100 AEGEE and non-AEGEE projects). Also, I’ve been a member of the Students’ Parliament for five years now, I’m a member of the biggest team of students fest of my city and I was a member of the board of my local four times (President, Secretary, Vice President, FR-Responsible). So yes – definitely I’m a team player!

The AEGEEan: Did you learn to speak English? How are you going to survive one year by speaking only English?

Bartosz: I was expecting this question.  Yes, I’ve got lessons, and now my English is good. I’m not saying that it is perfect, because that will be a lie. Nobody is perfect and everyone is learning all of their life. I’ll do my best to improve my worst sides, but when you are asking about my English, I can answer that it is much better because of the work I did in the last months. I know that some of CD members don’t speak French and despite this they successfully fulfill their tasks. I speak German too, which can appear to be helpful.

The AEGEEan: You were a Network Commissioner who was very national oriented. Why do you believe that you will be able to orient a team like the NetCom where the first priority is the European focus and not the national, thus going against your own actions?

Bartosz: People who are thinking that I was “a very national oriented Netcom” aren’t well informed about my work. Me and Inez Wenta (AEGEE-Toruń)  were the first Netcommies who proposed the idea of interregional NWM’s, and we actually did it. We held an interregional NWM between our Networks. Then – you can ask people who are coming to NWMs of my Network. I’m saying to the participants every time: “Don’t focus on your country”. This organization has two levels – local, where you are learning and working for the local and yourself, and European, where you are working for the whole organization. I was the first Netcom in the history of this Network who implemented more than one thematic part on the NWM, and one of those parts was only about the European level (EL). You ask me why? Because I know that without EL this organization won’t have the opportunity to exist. I want to implement the Idea of Bone Marrow Donors Registration Day in other countries, because my priority is the European focus. In my local we hold workshops about the European level three or four times per year, in order to give members the opportunity to develop them and push them to be active on EL. So finally: if I wanted to be focused on the national level, I would only have been a member of NZS (Niezależne Zrzeszenie Studentów, Independent Students’ Union ed.)  – the biggest national student organization in Poland. My priority, however, is the European Level, and to show to the Network that EL is not so scary, and it is for everyone who is ambitious, wants to develop him/herself and wants to be influencial in the youth’s life in Europe.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Venezia

Lia’s name and face can be quite well-known for many of us. Despite having joined AEGEE just a couple of years ago, she has been motivated from the start to be very active both on local and European level. Especially after being Arsenis Tselengidis’ subcommissioner, she feels prepared now to run for Network Commissioner herself. She is a member of AEGEE-Kastoria, but she is running for NetCom as a member of AEGEE-Sofia. You might wonder why – and so, we invite you to take a look at her words.

The AEGEEan: First of all, Lia, introduce yourself. Who are you, and how did you join AEGEE?

Lia: I am Evangelia Touska (but everyone calls and knows me as Lia) and I study Computer Science at the Technological Institute of Western Macedonia, Kastoria campus. Currently, I live at Iraklia, a small city close to the Greek border with Bulgaria. I joined AEGEE on May 2012, when AEGEE-Kastoria was founded. I was IT Responsible and Secretary of AEGEE-Kastoria and I am Vice-Speaker of the Information Technology Committee, Secretary of the Human Rights Working Group, Arsenis Tselengidis’ Subcommissioner responsible for AEGEE-Athina, AEGEE-Nicosia, AEGEE-Patra and AEGEE-Peiraias, PR of The AEGEEan and Network Commission’s assistant .

The AEGEEan: You are very experienced in AEGEE – but which have your favorite experiences been so far?

Lia: On the local level, my favorite experiences have been working with the rest of the board of AEGEE-Kastoria for two years and surprising AEGEE-Sofia members on the local’s 22nd birthday by showing up at the party. On European Level, I really enjoyed the European Level meeting in Zaragoza and I love working with the HRWG board.

The AEGEEan: You are not only a member of AEGEE-Kastoria, but also AEGEE-Sofia. You helped last summer in their events and now you are running for the position of NetCom from this local. What connects you so strongly with Bulgaria?

Lia: Bulgaria is the first foreign country I’ve ever visited. As said above, I live really close to Bulgaria and my first visit to Sofia was when I was 9 or 10. At my first event (Agora Budapest 2012), I met some of AEGEE-Sofia’s members and AEGEE-Sofia became AEGEE-Kastoria’s mentor. They have visited us at Kastoria and so have we.

I am member of AEGEE-Kastoria since its birth, but unfortunately, I don’t live there anymore. Actually, couple of days after I moved back with my parents, I left to go to help AEGEE-Sofia with organizing the Leadership Summer School 2013 and then I was participant at their Summer University, so I stayed there for a whole month. I really liked their motivation and the fact that they organized two big events in one month. When you spend such a long time with people you connect with them. They had already considered me their member before I joined AEGEE-Sofia. So now that I might move to Sofia, I decided and officially became their member.

The AEGEEan: You have been Arsenis’ subcommissioner. If elected, would you keep working with him as subcommie?

Lia: If elected, there is going to be an Open Call for my position. During the one-month Knowledge Transfer period, I will prepare my successor and later in case they need any help, I will be there.

The AEGEEan: And what have you learnt from this time as his subcommissioner?

Lia: I was thinking of running for Network Commissioner before Arsenis asked me to become member of his NetCom Team. After five months of being his subcommissioner, I feel more prepared than ever to do it. I have partly learnt how Network Commission works.
I was always responsible, on-time for the deadlines and extremely patient. Sometimes, you don’t have to learn something new, still you need to practice the skills you already have.

I have helped all the locals that I am responsible for to register at Erasmus+ database and all of them made it. I’m proud of them And I I made two trips to meet with three of my locals (Athina, Peiraias and Patra). From those trips I understood that Skype meetings are the easy way, but the personal contact is more efficient.

The AEGEEan: I always hear from previous netcommies that their time at the NetCom is probably the most rewarding experience they have had in AEGEE. Why do you think so?

Lia: While being NetCommie you contact not only one group of people, but more at the same time. Most of the times, you contact people who are not speaking the same language as you and you travel to visit them. You are like a parent to them, they are happy that you are there for them when they need you. Doing all those things I referred, you develop yourself and this is the most rewarding experience.

The AEGEEan: You have a very ambitious programme that starts with having a team of experts and subcommissioners. How are you planning to select them?

Lia: For the team of experts, I will select them depending on their experience. Some of them will also be subcommissioners, but I want to have not that experienced members in my team, too. My goal is to motivate them to be more active. I will select them with the help of my already selected team and considering their opinions, I will choose the proper ones. I am also going to ask for feedback from the Focus Area (if they agree or not) about my decision, in order to make it more democratic.

The AEGEEan: Our readers would like to ask about the existing gap between the local and European level of AEGEE. Would you consider making some implementations to reduce it? In case you already thought about it, what are the ideas you would like to be put to work?

Lia: Being member of locals that are active in European Level, I didn’t feel that gap until I became Subcommissioner. There are many locals that don’t know enough about it or think that European Level is just the Comité Directeur. With Arsenis and the rest of our NetCom Team, we decided to have some Local Training Courses regarding the European Level. I am going to follow this example, too. Also my team and I are going to create a newsletter translated in the languages of our Focus Area. Members will be free to help at the translation.

The AEGEEan: Not many people have heard about the Grandparent system. What is it about?

Lia: I love Grandparents’ System. I first heard about it from AEGEE-Patra. It is a Human Resources system. An old member of a local is grandparent of one or more new members to initiate them to AEGEE. When the new member needs help or advice about something on AEGEE, the grandparent is responsible for them. It helps the local to keep the new members for longer and it lightens the workload of the HR Responsible. AEGEE-Thessaloniki arranged me as my sister’s grandma and currently she is their Secretary and PR Responsible for the Pre-Agora event The Lord of Wine: the Return of Dionysus.

The AEGEEan: And do you plan to establish new locals?

Lia: Of course. I have already helped with founding AEGEE-Kastoria and I know the whole process. Plus, there are people who asked for help and advices to establish two new locals. More info about them, after Agora Patra…

The AEGEEan: Which are the three words that describe you best?

Lia: Smiling: Most of the time, I am smiling. That’s because I believe in the power of positive energy. Quoting Fotis Pastrakis, “I can’t imagine Lia being angry, sad or crying”.
Multitasking: I can do many things at the same time. Sometimes doing only one thing makes me feel strange.
Energetic: There are times that we can feel disappointed. I don’t let this feeling get over me. My dreams motivate me to keep up and I just enjoy the route!

The AEGEEan: And which are your hobbies outside AEGEE?

Lia: My favorite hobbies are knitting and cooking for my friends and family. My secret ingredient is that I put love in both of them. I love walking on my own or with one of my three dogs. Sometimes I watch television series or movies. Last but not least, the thing I do every day and I personally don’t consider as hobby, I meditate for at least 10 minutes or more (depending on my free time).

Written by Anna Gumbau, AEGEE-Barcelona/Leuven

Gloria Llopart is another law student who wants to join the Juridical Commission. She studied in Madrid for her bachelor and has since then been living in Heidelberg (Germany), where she continued working and is currently taking a Masters degree of Law. Besides that, she has been the subcommissioner of Juridical Commissioner Diana Tupchiienko and now is eager to be a JC member herself.

The AEGEEan: Can you tell a bit about yourself? What do you do you for a living? How old are you? Where are you from?

Gloria: I am 25 years old, I come from Barcelona and I have a degree in Law from the University Complutense of Madrid. Since October 2013 I am doing a Master in Law (LL.M) at the Goethe-University Frankfurt. I am also a working student in a multinational corporation at the contract management of the area “Mobility”, where I revise all the contracts between my company and car manufacturers, airlines, hotel groups, etc.

The AEGEEan: How did you learn about AEGEE?

Gloria: My first contact with AEGEE was in 2011, when I was an Erasmus student. I studied the last two semesters of my degree in Heidelberg (Germany). It was there where I learned about AEGEE by participating in all sorts of activities and events that AEGEE-Heidelberg organized. That helped me a lot to become part of the young European community, and that is how I started to truly live Europe.

The AEGEEan: You are Spanish, but you live in Germany, why is this the case?

Gloria: Almost three years ago I did an Erasmus year in Heidelberg, Germany. After that I stayed there because I did an internship in the Human Resources and Labor Law department of a company. When I finished the internship I started a Master in Law (LL.M) in Frankfurt and since last January I am working ifor another company. Living abroad is a unique and a great experience that is really worth it. I love living in Germany and I hope I can stay here some more years!

The AEGEEan: How do you see it as a benefit that you speak several languages?

Gloria: If you want to work on a European or international level you must speak several languages, otherwise you are not going to be able to communicate effectively with the people. In my opinion English is not an asset anymore, because it is supposed that everybody speaks it. To me speaking several languages is the best way to communicate and interact with another person and is essential if you both want  to be on an equal footing. It also gives you the key to express yourself with people from different countries. Languages and culture are connected, so the more languages you speak, the more chances you have to learn about new cultures and ways of thinking.

The AEGEEan: What have you learned as a subcommissioner of the Juridical Commission (JC)?

Gloria: As a subcommissioner of the JC I have learned two main things.

Firstly, I became acquainted with the JC and its working method. Thanks to Diana Tupchiienko and Atanas Nachkov and their Knowledge Transfer I have learned about the sources of the JC, its tasks, its communication, etc. The JC has constant tasks that have to be always done and it is very important that its members and its subcommissioners work well together. Second, I have learned how to work in a group which members can only have online meetings. The way you work in the JC is not the same way you work in your antenna, so you have to get used to it.

The AEGEEan: You do not have any experience of attending any AEGEE conferences. How can you assure that you have enough knowledge about AEGEE to be in the Juridical Commission?

Gloria: Being a subcommissioner of the JC has been the best preparation in order to be a member of this commission. The best way to know something is from experience and the position of subcommissioner gives you this first experience. The JC works and communicates constantly with the Comité Directeur, the antennae, the Network Commission, etc., so if you are in the JC, you have a global view of the whole AEGEE.

The AEGEEan: You have also only taken part in Agora Rhein-Neckar as a helper, will you be able to take part in the upcoming future statutory events?

Gloria: Yes, I will be able to participate in the upcoming future events and I really want to do it!

The AEGEEan: You are not a board member, but organize several things in AEGEE-Heidelberg. Can you explain a bit about your tasks?

Gloria: I have arranged all kind of events and activities for students. In particular I was responsible for the “Sprachcafé” (“Language Café”), a weekly meeting where people improve their foreign languages and also teach their native languages.  In March 2014 I elaborated a new structure for our antenna that has been implemented in April 2014. The main goal of this new structure is to organize the antenna, so its members can work more motivated and the tasks can be done more productively. Since April 2014 I am the responsible of the group “Workshops and Exchanges”. In this group we want to offer the members of the antenna intern workshops in order to go into AEGEE’s structure in depth. We also want to organize external workshops for all members of AEGEE and exchanges with other antennae.

The AEGEEan: You mention keeping a close relation to the Comite Directeur. Do you have any possibility to specify this?

Gloria: It is essential that the JC and the CD keep maintaining a close and a good relation. They communicate mainly by mail, but in some cases it would be better if we could meet all together, for example once each semester.

The AEGEEan: And how would you like to bring the JC closer to the Network?

Gloria: I would like that the members of AEGEE do not see the JC as an unknown commission. I think that most of the members of AEGEE feel they don’t know a lot about this particular commission. For example, I think they do not see the CIA as a “near” way to solve problems. That is why I think that creating a workshop about the main tasks of the JC or creating a “simple-fast CIA” with the most and useful answers would help the members.

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-Zaragoza

Member of the Month March is… Fotis Pastrakis, the new IT of the Chair Team, member of AEGEE-Kastoria for more than one year and he is so far exremely active!

 Can you tell us about yourself and your experience in AEGEE? How did you join AEGEE?

I was born and raised in Thessaloniki, my beloved hometown, until my footsteps brought me to Kastoria and university. As a realist and a person quite concerned about the world (politically, socially, etc.), AEGEE seemed to be ideal for me. It took me almost one year of thinking it through and discussing with people who were already in AEGEE, to decide if I really want to join and be active in the association. So when I finally joined AEGEE Kastoria, I was almost directly placed as IT responsible of the local board and started to build a network of connections with other people after sometime. If AEGEE was a program (like the ones in object-oriented programming), the objects for me would be people to meet, places to travel, cultural exchange and ideas which are worth further development.

What is motivating  for you? Is there a person who inspires you?

Motivating? What is more motivating than life itself? Nothing motivates me better than myself and nothing can motivate anyone better than themselves. I really don’t know by whom I am inspired, but I believe in the analysis of human psychology. Philosophy and poetry are some things which I am keen on. Nietzsche and Kariotakis have inspired me a lot, in general, but they are not the only ones.

What motivated you to apply for the Chair Team?

A strong appetite for knowledge. I am still a newbie(or I feel like this) in AEGEE, but as most of the stuff I am involved in, I  face it as a challenge. When I saw the qualifications for this place, I thought I had most of them and the ones I didn’t have, would be a great way (maybe a tough one, too) to obtain them. After all, the whole process of organizing an Agora is a great experience which I have to gain.

What else are you doing in AEGEE?

I am the IT of my local board, member of Culture Working Group, designer in the Public Relations Committee, member of Information Technology Committee and member of myAEGEE Team.

What are you doing at myAEGEE Team?

We administrate the system of all intranet accounts, answer to e-mails and mostly helping members in case they have some problem with their accounts.

What do you do apart from AEGEE? Studies? Work?

I am in the fourth year of my studies at the Technological Institute of Western Macedonia in the field of IT. Apart from my field and the time I dedicate on it, I am involved with beatmaking, lyrics, photography and volunteering. I am not working right now, but I have done several part-time jobs before, not only associated with computers. I think AEGEE is a great gateway to get ready for the labor market from a strange point of view. AEGEE has so many aspects that anyone can take advantage of.  For his own good, but for others, as well.

Recently, you and the rest of the Chair Team had a meeting at Brussels. How was it? Are you ready to work together for Patra?

The meeting was awesome, if someone could describe a preparation meeting for an Agora as awesome. The meeting took a long time  but it was quite interesting. Maybe I was not that talkative, but it was the best knowledge transfer for me, in order to get ready for my position in Agora Patra.

I already had met Miljana in Belgrade so we were a bit connected and, since we are both from the Balkans, we have a special way of communicating. Alberto and Paul were very friendly and have helped us a lot.

Written by Lia Tuska, AEGEE-Sofia/AEGEE-Kastoria

The AEGEEan’s Choice Awards is returning for the third time in connection with Agora Patra and lucky number three is the overall theme for the exciting times that all will end in a magnificent award ceremony at the big statutory event taking place in Greece later this year. Honouring 10 antennae for being outstanding in different matters.

The team behind The AEGEEan magazine is very excited to carry on the project for another year, as Anna Gumbau, the editor-in-chief, suggests: “It has been a popular tradition of ours for the last two years, and the third edition will definitely reassure The AEGEEan’s Choice Awards as a tradition in our Spring Agorae”. Starting today, January 9th, and during the next three weeks it is possible for you to submit candidates you have for the ten different categories. Some of them are the same as the former two years but at the same time The AEGEEan team has added three exciting categories:

• First of all The AEGEEan believe it is necessary to honour the locals that make a grand effort through different actions in order to recruit new members. That is why “The most effective recruiting action” has been added to the list of categories.

• Together with “The most inspiring local activity”, The AEGEEan aims to give recognition not only to the things happening on European Level but also on Local level.

• Adding to that it is also considered essential to add “The most outstanding AEGEE moment” to the awards honouring the different actions that have taken place in the former year and it is therefore the third new category added to the list.

After the three weeks of suggestions of nominations, ten juries (with three members each) will gather and select the final nominations for the different categories. The AEGEEan will ensure to include many different active AEGEE members! “The AEGEEan, and the Network as a whole, have eye-witnessed many memorable moments and outstanding actions by our members”, Anna adds, “so I am pretty sure that the choice will be difficult!”. These next three weeks will also be used to arrange the juries making sure that plenty of thought is put into which antennae and members will be nominated among the final nominations. Hopefully The AEGEEan will get correspondence from members of the Network Commission, Action Agenda Coordination Committee, Public Relations Committee, Comité Directeur and more, and that all will help because of their broad knowledge about events and moments happening in AEGEE.

The ten categories are:

• Most impressive roll call: honouring the locals that make an effort to bring smiles on the faces of the statutory events participants. Only roll calls that took place at EBM Valletta, Agora Rhein-Neckar and Agora Zaragoza can be nominated.
• Most active Working Group: The Working Groups carry out many interesting activities and at The AEGEEans Choice Awards the members of AEGEE choose the one that has been most active in 2013.
• Best team achievement: Together Everyone Achieves More and there are many things that a team can do. This awards honors the best team achievement of 2013!
• Most successful thematic event: The Action Agenda and Strategic Plan are highly important for AEGEE and at The AEGEEans Choice Awards the best of the best are honored for prioritizing the thematics of AEGEE.
• Best Video: There are many creative and gifted AEGEE members that use hours and hours into making video promotion for AEGEE and the best one of 2013 will be named at Agora Patra.
• Most creative merchandise: Cups, t-shirts, stickers, hats and more are all different types of merchandise that carry the AEGEE logo somehow and at The AEGEEans Choice Awards the most creative of 2013 will be honoured.
• Most original mascot: Almost all antennae have a mascot and many European Level bodies have one as well but which antenna, Working Group or Project Team has put the most thought into the choice of theirs?
• Most outstanding AEGEE moment: One of the new categories as previously mentioned aimed to point out which moment was the biggest and most important of AEGEE during the year of 2013.
• Most effective recruitment action: Another new category, this one honoring the antennae that are successful in terms of using different actions to get new members to contribute to the growth of AEGEE.
• Most inspiring local activity: Antennae organise things that are not European events but that does not give them any less significance. This award has been added to highlight the actions antennae do on a local level and give inspiration to the rest of the organisation.

Afterwards The AEGEEan will of course bring you all the stories behind the nominations! During the time span of three weeks the journalists of The AEGEEan will be granting you with all the information you need in order to make sure you can cast the vote for whoever you believe deserves it the most! The final voting will take place online on The AEGEEan’s website from March 10th until March 31st! As always the results will be announced at spring Agora, this time during Agora Patra!

Let’s get it started! You can nominate your candidates here!

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

This month we award AEGEE-Patra as Local of the Month. This antenna was founded on as they call it one cold night in December ’97; they are no strangers to the AEGEE world and they have had many members active at the European level. Perhaps you have heard of George Dimitrakopoulos, one of the masterminds behind the Information Technology Committee or Costas Deltouzos famous for his contribution to the Summer University Coordination Team. Or maybe Christos Gkagkas of International Politics Working Group?  You know you know them, but we are here to talk about the current board made up of John Eikosidekas, Aris Konstantinopoulos, Apostolis Voulgaridis, Petros Spyratos and Foteini Pappa.

Apo Voulgaridis – Public Relations Responsible

The AEGEEan: We all know that there have been major changes in the past months with the new board. You have introduced a ‘club system’ inspired by the Dutch locals. Can you tell us a little bit about the need for such a system and how it’s going so far?

Well, according to a Human Resources Management theory, an organization should have members that feel like they belong. To reach that goal you must give members more responsibilities on the active level. So, decentralization of responsibilities was our first idea. Also, we wanted to make induction of members easier, instead of having only one type of meeting with many members on the active level so our members can enjoy and contribute easier. So the idea hit us to categorize all things our members could contribute into clubs! It’s going great so far, and we also encourage new members to go on a trial and join a meeting. This way our antenna gains fresh new ideas and more active members! We have subconsciously agreed upon calling the club system, the “HR Strategy”.

So you built a system based on this strategy. Which clubs does is consist of?

The “HR Strategy” consists of five clubs:
1. The Social Club: it is responsible for our social events and entertaining Erasmus Students.
2. The Design Club: it is responsible for any PR material needed for our antenna, such as leaflets, e-mails to our members, designing stickers etc.
3. The External Relations Club: they are responsible for any external contact from our antenna, like for fundraising, for programs like Youth in Action, but also for sending holiday cards to our sponsors etc.
4. The IT Club: it’s responsible for the electronic networking within our antenna and they make sure that we can communicate easier through mailing lists, updating our webpage and so on.
5. The SU Club: it’s redundant to mention what goes on in this club. We are organizing a TSU together with AEGEE-Ioanninna this year.

Petros Spyratos – Secretary

You guys are one of our oldies and goldies and we know you have taken up the task to be mentors for the ‘’babies’’ of AEGEE-Ioannina. Tell us the why’s, the how’s and where is this heading?

We initiatively met AEGEE-Ioannina at their Network Meeting in September 2012, and got to know them even better during Fall Agora Budapest 2012. We hit it off quite well and enjoy their company. They have the AEGEE spirit and are full of fresh ideas and energy! They also joined our RTC this past December in Patra and between our antennae there is constant communication as if we were friends from the past.

We thought that it would be nice to help out building their antenna and cooperating with them in organizing European level events. So many ideas have hit both antennae and we have a lot of ideas on how we could cooperate. Let’s see what the future holds in store!

What are AEGEE-Patra’s summer plans till the Autumn Agora Zaragoza?

Unfortunately, our antenna has only approximately 60 members and is thought of as one of the average-sized antennae in our network. So during the summer, other than many meetings to organize a fantastic TSU with AEGEE-Ioannina, it’s difficult to organize something more. Hopefully our club system will make our older and upcoming members engage in more active participation in AEGEE and in the future we will surely organize more than just a TSU!

And speaking of the Agora: We know you guys are candidating for hosting the Spring Agora 2014. Can you tell us who’s idea was it and who is currently working on it?

Costas Deltouzos – Advisory Board

As you know, the Agora dates back all the way to ancient Greece. It was the most important thing for their political system; democracy. The last time a greek local had the “courage” to organize one was in 2002. So during the last years there is a longing by all greek locals to have again one Agora in its birthplace! We hope that the Agora will return to its birthplace from ancient times, and make not only AEGEE-Patra, but also other greek locals happy!

We are proud to share with you, that the man behind this idea is one of our most experienced member, who is also a member of our advisory board, Costas Deltouzos. He will be the coordinator and now he is in the process of setting together the core team of the organizers and writing the application. We really are anxious about the results and are really hoping to get the Spring Agora 2014!

Thank you and good luck!

Written by Andra Toma, AEGEE-Bucuresti