In the occasion of the Youth Development month, the Youth Development Working Group reached out to four AEGEE alumni and interviewed them, with the intention to connect past, present and future of AEGEE. Here’s the fourth and last interview of the series: Maria Nomikou (formerly) from AEGEE-Athina and AEGEE-Zaragoza. 

YDWG: Hello Maria, can you introduce yourself a bit?

Maria: I am Maria, I have studied theatre studies, stage management and international and European policies in education training and research and I joined AEGEE in 2002. Since then I have spent a lot of my time travelling for AEGEE, for pleasure or for delivering training courses. At the moment, I work at the British Council in the field of education, society and social economy. I love sewing, cooking and cinema. [she smiles, ed.]

And when did you become a member of AEGEE? How many years did you volunteer in it and what have you done during those years?

I joined AEGEE in 2002 and I was very active until 2009, but somehow I stayed involved as the last training I delivered for AEGEE was in 2013. Well, last year I facilitated the team building for the CD but it was just for a couple of days. What I have done… Member of AEGEE-Athina and AEGEE-Zaragoza, one year in the board of AEGEE-Athina, speaker of the Academy twice, president of the Members Commission (i think this doesn’t exist anymore [she smiles, ed.]), trainer in more than 15 European Schools, ES2 Oviedo Manager and chief editor of the NFE book: the impact of non-formal education on young people and society.

What does AEGEE mean for you?

Travelling like an executive, working in the middle of the night like in a multinational company, partying like an animal, having a friend in every single corner of Europe, thinking of the past and smiling for all the wonderful crazy experiences AEGEE gave me.

What was the biggest thing that AEGEE brought to you?

Confidence, the feeling that you have the power to make your dreams come true.

Which skills did you improve most during your very active years in AEGEE?

I feel that my whole personality was influenced by AEGEE. In my seven most active years in AEGEE I spent endless hours working for the organisation and I travelled to numerous places. This influences not only your skills and knowledge but your attitude towards life.

Did these skills help you to find a job easily? And what is your job now?

AEGEE first of all gave me a great opportunity to discover the world of youth work and youth training. Being nominated to the European Youth Forum Pool of Trainers for three mandates (2007-2013) I had the opportunity to work in very exciting projects with big institutions and NGOs. This influenced my future a lot and what I do now is as if I followed a natural path that started with AEGEE, continued with the Forum and other companies/experiences and brought me where I am, at the British Council in Athens.

What would you say is the biggest benefit of AEGEE for young people looking for a job?

It doesn’t matter what your job will be in five, 10 or 20 years, the biggest benefit is that it makes you feel a citizen of the world. It helps you improve basic soft skills such as collaboration, organisation, sense of responsibility, intercultural skills and many more that are useful for any job, even for the ones that maybe don’t exist yet. What you need to keep in mind is that this is not something that AEGEE offers you, but something you offer yourself, with AEGEE being just the vehicle.

Do you have any advice for newbies in AEGEE?

Grab the opportunities, try hard, follow your dreams and try to find out what makes you unique. AEGEE is a great and safe place to try new things, explore your strengths and weaknesses and find other crazy people that will join you in crazy journeys.

This is the fourth and last article of a series. You can find the first here, the second here and the third here. 

Written by Batuhan Çarıkçı, Youth Development Working Group

In the occasion of the Youth Development month, the Youth Development Working Group reached out to four AEGEE alumni and interviewed them, with the intention to connect past, present and future of AEGEE. Here’s the first interview of the series: Berat Ezel (formerly) from AEGEE-Izmir.

YDWG: Hello Berat, can you introduce yourself a bit?

Berat: I am a volunteer, youth worker and consultant on training design solutions and recently I have been working with Syrian refugees and professionals who work with disadvantaged target groups in the frame of social inclusion. Apart from these fields, I am actively working on outdoor education, entrepreneurship trainings for youngsters and women entrepreneurs living in rural areas. I live in Bodrum,Turkey.

And when did you become a member of AEGEE? How many years did you volunteer in it and what have you done during those years?

Well, I became a member of AEGEE-Izmir in 2000. I was actively involved in local and European activities until 2008. Since then I have been supporting AEGEE locals or members as alumni member. When I was an active member of AEGEE, I had many roles in the Network. I was a board member of AEGEE-Academy, SUCT, DWG, Network Commission at the European level and I was a board member of AEGEE-Izmir, organising committee member of AGORA Izmir 2005, which was awarded “best event” and I was organiser of several Summer Universities.

What does AEGEE mean for you?

AEGEE means a big network and family which can broaden your life vision and give you many opportunities, more than a young person can ever imagine.

What was the biggest thing that AEGEE brought to you?

Obviously the reason of choosing my current job career and my lifelong friends from Turkey and all over Europe. Before being a member of AEGEE, I was involved in volunteering activities but I was feeling that something was missing. Then, after meeting different people from different backgrounds from all over Europe, I realised that youth’s needs and problems are not so different in different countries. And this network motivated me to step up to extend my competences in order to be more active as citizen. On the other hand, while organising social projects and activities for youngsters, I had the chance to meet amazing people who are willing to make a positive impact in society. Some of them are my close friends and some are my colleagues now. We have a strong connection thanks to the AEGEE spirit.

Which skills did you improve most during your very active years in AEGEE?

Well not only skills, but I would rather say I had the chance to develop knowledge and attitudes in my job and life too. First of all, I had the chance to explore civil society and its power for a change in the community. Intercultural learning, conflict resolution, active citizenship, volunteering, human rights and advocacy, and designing learning activities (LTCs, European Schools) are only some of the fields I got knowledge of. Surely event management, project management, FR and PR skills, how to run an NGO, how to manage volunteers and many other skills helped me to build my career. Working in the right field, with the right target group and with the right team helped me to develop my attitude towards my job. Sharing information and gaining knowledge became the vision of my life.

Did these skills help you to find a job easily? And what is your job now?

It was NOT so easy at the beginning. Including my friends and family, nobody ever believed that I could have a good future or good life by choosing social work. When I was travelling in Europe from one event to another, they mostly thought that I was just partying and enjoying life and that’s it. Obviously, recognition of youth work at the beginning of the 2000s was not so developed as much as today. So it was not so easy to find a job to work on. On the other hand, thanks to my social and organisational skills, I had the chance to work on large scale projects of national and international foundations and institutions and this helped me to start working as freelance youth trainer. I still am a trainers’ pool member of different European youth networks. But I work as project manager in an youth and culture centre in Bodrum, Turkey.

What would you say is the biggest benefit of AEGEE for young people looking for a job?

The biggest advantage of AEGEE for a youngster is being a member of huge network/family full of opportunities. Each youngster has skills and motivation, desires but mostly they think they are alone. For a young person, playing a violin in Izmir is nice, but if you tell him/her “there is an opportunity to meet different people who play different instruments from Madrid, Athens, Krakow, Baku, Budapest, Prague, Zagreb” and he/she can come together, meet, understand each other, work together, organise a concert together with those people and invite a whole European community to that, and if you tell him/her that it is not only a music performance but promotion of solidarity, unity and a better future for new generations with no prejudices through this event, then I am sure that youngster would say “It is impossible!”. Well, it is possible..I’ve seen it with AEGEE.

Lastly, do you have any advices for the newbies in AEGEE?

I don’t know if it is advice, but I would say I am very sorry for them. Because if they are already a newbie, that means they are already infected by the AEGEE virus. It will be following them entirely. [he smiles, ed.] AEGEE is like a simulation of life, both professionally and socially, and it is also life itself. So they should enjoy it and use it and gain from it. But they shouldn’t forget to give back to AEGEE as well.

Written by Batuhan Çarıkçı, Youth Development Working Group

Their term starts today. A team of motivated people will officially begin their work on the 1st of August, and there are big expectations about them! It could be the new Comité Directeur (CD) 55 that we are talking about, indeed, but in this case we are referring to the brand new Working Groups, led by the newly elected Working Group Coordinators, namely Viola Bianchetti for Equal Rights, Álvaro González Pérez for European Citizenship, Svenja van der Tol for Youth Development, and Joanna Pankowska for Civic Education.

As most of you already know, the new Working Groups will ensure a fresh and successful start for the new Focus Areas of our three-year-long Strategic Plan.

Even though they still have not begun their term, they have already made history: they have received the highest amount of applications ever, with 62 applications for 28 spots (without counting the coordinators), and each of the teams have eight members (the maximum according to the CIA).

Furthermore, all of the Working Groups have already met via Skype several times and discussed their upcoming plans.  The coordinators have likewise met, in order to promote the team work among the WG themselves. One of the ideas that have come up from their meeting is the establishment of a unified newsletter and of Focus Area action months to take place in 2017/2018.

Before that, Working Groups will be present all around the Network during the NWMs and the Agora, and between September and October they will hold their live meetings. The Public Relations Committee of AEGEE is also working on the WG logos, in order to make them match and have common elements and show visually the level of coordination that wants to be achieved between the Working Groups.

That’s all by now. If you want to stay up-to-date with the news regarding the WGs, subscribe to our newsletter here! Rumors say that they are unstoppable!

Written by Álvaro González Pérez, AEGEE-Heidelberg and European Citizenship Working Group Coordinator

Special thanks to Stas Mahula, AEGEE-Kyїv, for the cover picture.

After one year in Brussels as Secretary General and counless experiences both with her local AEGEE-Nijmegen and at the European level, Svenja van der Tol has been really active in bringing back to life the Human Resources Committee of AEGEE-Europe and she is now candidating as Coordinator of the Youth Development Working Group. We interviewed her about it. 

The AEGEEan: Could you introduce yourself and your story in AEGEE?

Svenja: Besides a master student in Linguistics (although not studying as much as I maybe should [she laughs, ed.]), I am currently the Speaker of the Action Agenda Coordination Committee and responsible for the Agora Mentorship project that was relaunched by the Human Resources Committee. Before these activities, I have done quite some other things in AEGEE, including a year as Secretary General of the Comité Directeur (2015-2016), a year as Secretary of my own local AEGEE-Nijmegen (2012-2013) and being co-Editor-in-Chief of two editions of the Key to Europe (2013-2014 and 2015-2016). There is probably more, but not all of it is interesting to mention here, although you can find the full list in my candidature (hint, hint).

How did you meet with AEGEE?

I joined the introduction period of AEGEE-Nijmegen in 2011, because I had just moved to a new city and I was looking for a way to make new friends. The promised cheap travels and cultural exchanges seemed to be a nice added bonus. I learned rather fast though that AEGEE has a lot more to offer than just meeting people and travelling around Europe, so since then I have accepted it as my crazy, but never the less incredibly loved second family.

What are your plans if you are elected as coordinator of the Youth Development Working Group?

First and foremost, I would like to use my term as coordinator – if elected – to properly define the focus of this completely new Focus Area (pun intended), and especially the task division and specific role of the to-be-established Working Group, since we also have other bodies that are working in this field and I would like to combine rather than waste our resources. Since it is what the Working Groups are supposed to do, it will not be a surprise that I would also like to provide locals and fellow European Bodies with the means and support needed to implement the Action Agenda objectives. The exact actions that will make these two things happen will be decided together with my future team members, since the Working Group is not a one (wo)man show.

How are you going to contribute to this group?

As the coordinator, I consider my task to be the management of resources within the Working Group, meaning that I want to make sure all members can contribute with their own expertise and ideas to the work of the Working Group as a whole, while also ensuring that the Working Group functions as a team in which everyone feels heard and respected. Besides that, I would also feel the responsibility to ensure that an Activity Plan is created and, together with my future team, succesfully implemented.

You worked in many different positions in AEGEE. Which one is the best for you?

I have indeed done quite some things in AEGEE already, but I cannot pick one that is or was the best or most suitable for me. All the experiences I had together have given me the experience that I have right now, and often they have been a support to each other – like how I can use my experience in the Comité Directeur now to support the Network in other ways, such as answering questions that require rather specific knowledge. Having said that, however, for the upcoming year(s?), I would like to orientate myself mostly in the field of internal education and youth development as a whole, since I find these two are very important topics and I see a role for myself there to support them.

You have been really ACTive in the Action Agenda Coordination Committee, why did you decide to focus on Youth Development specifically?

First of all, I was already more involved in this Focus Area during the European Planning Meeting in Zagreb, where I supported the Comité Directeur as Drafting Manager, by attending and moderating the sessions on drafting the objectives for this Focus Area specifically, which gave me a good understanding of the direction the attendants would like to take with it. Besides that, out of personal interest and a strong belief that youth development is the core of many things in AEGEE, I would really like to make the Youth Development Focus Area more than words, but implement it into concrete actions and – pun intended again – developments.

You can read her full candidature here.

Written by Firdevs Cazim