Let’s Show Other People about Our “Miracle” Called Summer University

25 years of fun. 25  years of cultural exchange. 25 years of Summer University (SU) Project. This is a whole life for people like me… and even more for some newbies. This is a great achievement and for sure deserves to be commemorated. Thus it was not surprising to see an email about a 25th anniversary booklet for this project. And the work starts here. Captain of the ship is Hara Kogkou –  the person whose smile represents the SU and surely there is no person who knows more SU stories than her, being a Summer University Coordination Team (SUCT) member, and loving this project for years. How does she do it and why she decided to dedicate a few more months to the SU project – keep reading the article and you will find out.

Our idea is to have the SU 25th anniversary booklet digitalised in order to be able to provide it to everybody but of course printed for externals.

According to the plan the booklet will be ready by the end of January 2013. As mentioned we already have a great big team filled with motivation to create this booklet. Currently we are doing a survey and asking all the members (new and old ones) to take part in it. We are really happy as we have already received more than 650 responses and with an even larger number the booklet will be even greater. So, as you can see, every person can play a role in the creation of the booklet and we are waiting for more people to fill out this questionnaire.

I became editor-in-chief of SU 25th anniversary booklet because I am intrigued by the Summer University Project, because I was devoted to it for the past two years as the Project Manager of SUCT and because I want to show other people about our “miracle” that is called Summer University – how a life can take a different path in just two weeks, and of course in order not to forget from where it started and how it is now.

The concept of the booklet is to include stories from the past, the history and the evolution of the Summer University throughout the years, interviews from the people that played key roles in creating the SU project. We are already full of ideas.

After being Project Manager of the SU Project for two years, to do this booklet for me is like a gift; it is like showing non-AEGEE people what we are working and striving for, to show why we are so passionate about this project and how it can change a young person’s life and perspective. It is my way of saying thank you.

To prepare the booklet we will need the help of the Network by different means – by providing us material such as photographs, experiences, stories… everything is crucial and everything is welcome! Maybe for some people a Summer University changed their life, maybe they felt in love with a city and moved there after the SU or maybe they even fell in love with another person, or a culture. Maybe for somebody the SU brought them closer to the European level of AEGEE which got them more actively involved in AEGEE, who knows. So many SU’s take place year after year so for sure there are some great stories out there to be told. If you have great stories to tell, then we are waiting for you!

Of course I could not manage to do it alone and thus there is already a team composed of Pavel Zbornik and Zsófia Komáromi who help from the side of the Comité Directeur, Patricia Anthony (AEGEE-København) is editor of the booklet, newly elected Summer University Coordination Team (SUCT) member Gerardo García Díaz (AEGEE-Oviedo) has agreed to help with the design, and many more who were more than willing to help and be part of the anniversary booklet! Of course, I am not forgetting the help of Les Anciens!

Thank you Hara, and we wish you good luck!

Written by Liliya Buyukliyska, AEGEE-Sofia