Who is the AEGEE member of the year 2020? Which antenna, which project was the best? What were the highlights of the year? And what will 2021 bring? The Golden Times asked more than 50 active AEGEE members. Over the next week you can see what they answered. In this sixth part: read what Laura Miranda, Laura García and Wouter Boerjan said.

Laura Miranda, Mental Health WG Coordinator, AEGEE-Valencia, AEGEE-Valladolid

Golden Times: What was your personal AEGEE highlight in 2020?

For me, it was EPM Barcelona 2020. It was an exhausting event. I remember being so stressed by the late changes, ups and downs… And still, I enjoyed it so much! I learned a lot organising it and it was very fulfilling to see people learning new things about mental health and other very important topics during the conference.

Which moments of AEGEE-Europe in general in 2020 do you remember most vividly or as outstanding?

I was amazed by how the team of the 7th edition of Europe on Track managed the Covid-19 situation, all the sessions that were made, the participation of so many people…

Who was for you the outstanding member in 2020?

  • Of course, I can’t help mentioning my beloved WG. I am very happy to work together with them, our atmosphere, our shared motivation, our different perspectives, our current projects and the new ones that will come in the future.
  • Also, I would like to mention our current CD-appointed member Elena Efremova, always close and friendly. Despite not having huge support in the last Spring Agora, not being able to join the CD in Brussels and after the difficult situations they faced due to Covid times and everything that happened in the Autumn and Extraordinary Agora, she still manages to keep herself going on and coming to our meetings with a warm smile and a very human and comprehensive attitude. Thank you for that.
  • Last but not least, I want to highlight the motivation and hard work that I saw in Teresa Geislinger when we were organising a workshop on Mental Health with AEGEE-Strasbourg, AEGEE-Paris and AEGEE-Göteborg. Their patience, willingness to work and to get involved in the process, their amazing work in promotion… All of this led to having more than 70 people attending our workshop, which I would say is quite remarkable during these times.

Which was for you the outstanding antenna in 2020?

I could mention some of them, but one that I appreciate a lot would be AEGEE-Nijmegen, which has been collaborating a lot with several working groups organising workshops on topics related to the Focus Areas, contributing to the Action Agenda and Strategic Plan.

What was for you the outstanding European project, working group or interest group in 2020?

I couldn’t choose one or some, we have such a rich variety that I could really mention a lot of them, and this is something that I love about AEGEE.

What is the biggest opportunity for AEGEE in 2021?

For me, it’s to rethink about the direction AEGEE is taking, how we do things and why we do them. I believe that we all know we are far away from being 13.000 members. It is very difficult to estimate and plan anything without numbers and updated information about our organization.

Furthermore, in order to have sustainable growth in AEGEE, it’s not only important to recruit, but also to keep our members motivated, happy and sane. It doesn’t make sense that we do so much drama and so much harm sometimes with our positions, our words, our polarised opinions and our assumptions.

I believe that just asking would be a good step in the right direction, but it’s not enough. We need to make our spaces safer: safer to talk, to speak our minds without fearing an attack. Starting with our Agorae; all our dramas don’t only hurt people but also our internal democracy, as every time it’s more and more difficult to really speak our minds unless you have an army behind you, which brings us more polarization and even hate at some points.

This is not new, it has been happening a lot during the last years – also pointing out the nationalities of the people when they are running for any position or any mistake on their past in AEGEE. This doesn’t help.

I know it’s difficult to leave our prejudices behind and see each other as just young Europeans in a learning process, but let’s try to change judgement by compassion, let’s take care of each other, let’s cooperate and work more together. In the end, we all want the best for AEGEE, let’s not waste energy in internal battles.

The Corona crisis hit AEGEE hard in 2020. What measures should AEGEE take to overcome the crisis? Maybe you also see some positive examples in the network that you can name?

I don’t think I am the most knowledgeable person to talk about this, I would say to just follow the professional recommendations in our countries and, in case of doubt, stick to the safe side, better safe than sorry.

What are your personal AEGEE plans for 2021?

I plan to keep doing my best coordinating the Mental Health Working Group. Hopefully, I will present my thesis and finally graduate as Management Engineer, keep on with my studies in Psychology and maybe, who knows, find a job.

 

Laura García, AEGEE-A Coruña, AEGEE-Vigo, Coordinator of the Climate Emergency WG

Golden Times: What was your personal AEGEE highlight in 2020?

For me, it was being part of the Climate Emergency Working Group. I am so proud of my work, despite all the mental health problems that this year brought to me. We are having such great success that I cannot be more proud of myself, and of course, my team with which I couldn’t achieve anything without them.

Which moments of AEGEE-Europe in general in 2020 do you remember most vividly or as outstanding?

This year was so difficult in many aspects. For me, it was all the motivation and the activeness during the big lockdown in March-April. I was so happy many locals and friends were that supportive with each other, organising activities for all the network, encouraging words… Even though we are right now a bit tired of online stuff, during those weeks, for me it was beautiful how united we were.

Who was for you the outstanding member in 2020?

My Climate Emergency Working Group team. For me, all of them were and are outstanding. I cannot leave behind our CD appointed member, Diederik, who is supporting us a lot. I also really think that the whole CD team had to be recognised as they are making such a great job, despite the Covid situation, all the restrictions and all the inconveniences that the situation is bringing. I am sorry I cannot be more precise on this, but it is true: many people did an incredible job during this odd year.

Which was for you the outstanding antenna in 2020?

This year, many locals had. If I had to mention just three, I would choose three locals that worked a lot and were pretty close to us: AEGEE-Iasi, AEGEE-Nijmegen and AEGEE-Madrid.

  • AEGEE-Iasi is an example of how a small antenna, having the motivation of one person, started a project regarding sustainability and climate change, gathering very relevant externals, high participation of their members, a big social media activity and a work of almost two months.
  • AEGEE-Nijmegen is the clear example of being committed with the thematic part. They were not just motivated in collaborating with the CEWG, organising three online activities and having other independent but related activities, if not, also collaborating with the Mental Health Working Group.
  • AEGEE-Madrid is a great antenna with very proactive people, they were not just interested in our topic, they helped us a lot organising events and I really think their effort had to be mentioned.

What was for you the outstanding European project, working group or interest group in 2020?

This is so difficult to answer because despite the fact that this year was terrible, many European bodies and projects did incredible work. I am so proud of the work that the others working groups made and of course, we had the great example of Europe on Track with all their social media work and their successful crowdfunding campaign.

What is the biggest opportunity for AEGEE in 2021?

As probably Corona will take us the opportunity to do big things except online until at least summer, if not autumn, our biggest opportunity is to think. Think about the structure of the organisation, think about why we keep losing members and why they don’t want to be active in higher levels. To create a strategy.

The Corona crisis hit AEGEE hard in 2020. What measures should AEGEE take to overcome the crisis? Maybe you also see some positive examples in the network that you can name?

As I am not an expert in this field I find it difficult to give an exact answer. What I really think is that we need to wait and see what the health and pandemic experts will say to us. Also every country is very different so we will need to adapt our activities to the current situation in our country or region.

What are your personal AEGEE plans for 2021?

I will keep doing my best for the Climate Emergency Working Group. We still have many things to do, and we are all excited about the new year and hopefully, new opportunities in case Corona gives us some space. Also, I would like to help my locals to grow up. Currently AEGEE-A Coruña is not passing its best time, and AEGEE-Vigo is starting to grow up a little bit. My dream would be helping both of them with my experience to get active again.

 

Wouter Boerjan, Project Manager of SUCT, Speaker team of HRC, AEGEE-Eindhoven

Golden Times: What was your personal AEGEE highlight in 2020?

Working with an amazing team through the pandemic. This was both a challenge as well as an opportunity to innovate. Luckily I had the pleasure to work in SUCT with great people and we were all dedicated to give people the opportunity to have quality activities in summer – even though the SUs had to be cancelled.

Which moments of AEGEE-Europe in general in 2020 do you remember most vividly or as outstanding?

The online Agoras, those I will not forget easily. Just like normal Agoras they will stay in my mind for a long time. I was impressed with how smooth everything went and how well it all came together. But besides the organizational side, we from SUCT also had some pretty heavy proposals and discussions this year. We are trying to move the project into a certain direction for the future.

Who was for you the outstanding member in 2020?

As everyone else would say, there are several, so I too shall pick some amazing people we have in AEGEE.

  • First up, I would pick Niek Lange. He has been working in my own local throughout the whole pandemic on activities, committees and much more. Showing that even though there is a crisis, AEGEE still goes on and can still achieve many of its values, be it through small gatherings, online events, or talks on WhatsApp.
  • Second, I pick Oksana Prokopchenko, for showing so much love towards AEGEE and so much dedication in the CD. She has achieved a lot and still is giving so much to AEGEE. At first I was not working with her a lot, but throughout the whole year I grew closer to her every day. Now I have the privilege to work with her on the future knowledge management system of AEGEE.
  • Last but not least, Elitsa Hadzhieva. We kind of were in the same boat, or on the same train in her case. With Covid bringing an end to both our projects, or so it seemed, we both had to adapt and innovate. I am amazed at how well she managed to do this for Europe on Track. In such a short time she managed to pull off a digitalization revolution in AEGEE basically.

Which was for you the outstanding antenna in 2020?

For this I will simply pick my own local, AEGEE-Eindhoven. Perhaps I am biased, but I think we have dealt with the pandemic in a great way, keeping up the weekly activities and much more. Everything moving online and keeping up the spirit of our members. I truly hope the same spirit is happening in many more locals, and I am sure that Eindhoven would be happy to co-organize an event together with anyone that wants to.

What was for you the outstanding European project, working group or interest group in 2020?

I believe Europe on Track did great. Managing such a massive change in such a short time. But besides that I would also compliment the SU project, which already was having a hard time the last years, this year was a hard blow. But improvements have been made and the future is looking brighter every day. But basically all European bodies pulled themselves together when there was the need. Before summer everyone came together and put together amazing online activities that could be carried out all over Europe. Showing that even though we cannot travel, we can still live Europeanly.

What is the biggest opportunity for AEGEE in 2021?

I think it might become obvious by now, but 2021 is the biggest opportunity for AEGEE. By now we know that things are looking to get better soon, with hopefully by coming summer being able to be almost back to normal. Meaning we can start looking ahead and move towards the light at the end of the tunnel.

I would say that this means we can start plan our events for summer, plan our European events, our Summer Universities, our online events, our promotion strategies. So that when the time comes, we will be able to recruit every single young European. Showing them the opportunities that they can have within AEGEE ones the pandemic is fully lifted.

So I truly believe 2021 will give AEGEE a rebirth moment, in which many young Europeans will be longing for those adventures that we can offer. We therefore should be ready to offer them and promote them.

The Corona crisis hit AEGEE hard in 2020. What measures should AEGEE take to overcome the crisis? Maybe you also see some positive examples in the network that you can name?

Yes, the crisis hit hard, and many locals are struggling to stay afloat, but at the same time much innovation has happened on all levels. I think this is also the measures that should still be further developed, the cooperation between locals themselves and bodies. Further looking into the digital opportunities that we can benefit from. And many more advancements that have long been lacking in AEGEE, are those that we are now going to be exploiting.

In many areas things have already been done, think for example of the Events calendar by EQAC and the many locals working together for online events. These are all ways in which we connect Europeans in these times, but we should keep doing this in the future as well.

What are your personal AEGEE plans for 2021?

As I just started again in my second term as SUCT, this will be one of my personal plans. Finishing what I started over a year ago, setting the future path of the project. With many improvements happening and many opportunities for everyone to take part in. Besides the SU project I will also be working in HRC on the general working of it, but also on the knowledge management system of AEGEE-Europe and the European bodies collaboration. In all three there is plenty to do and much to gain, so I am looking forward to contributing to them together with so many more AEGEEans.