Recently, I tried to attend a Network Meeting (NWM) for the first time in my one and a half year of AEGEE life. Despite obstacles such as the short period of time (three-four days), location was not too far away so I could go there any time, workshops similar to others made me doubt attending it but in the end I went and this article is the first result of the event.
So why to attend NWM, especially in your area?
- It is a good dose of inspiration. Just like a pill of vitamins, condensed but with all the necessary elements of an event: serious discussions, interaction with fellow participants and great parties!
- It is not so expensive to get there. I still had to take a plane, but being a short and frequent route, the price was more than reasonable. However, most people came by bus, train or boat: cheaper and more environmentally friendly!
- You have no luggage problem. A backpack is ok for three days and there is no need to worry about exceeding the fateful 10 kg. allowed by the low-cost airline.
- You will get to know your NetCommie and a member of the Comitè Directeur. I pleasingly discovered that there is always a CD member appointed to each NWM. Together with the NetCommie they provide trainings, but also show that the position at the European level of AEGEE does not reduce your ability to have fun!
- You will get to know people that live not too far, and it is therefore easier to meet again soon. Cooperation is stimulated and it can also take the form of less formal meeting. Plus, you can simply meet them again in the following NWM
- Participants are a mix of fresh and experienced members. It is good to take part in a NWM shortly after joining AEGEE, in fact even though you will probably not understand everything, you will get an idea how the organisation works and about the topics which interest you the most and which you want to develop. It is good also if you are already familiar with most of the notions: you will always find someone who knows more than you, or just do different things, or has a different opinion.
- There can be external speakers. Intervention of people from outside the organisation shows that what AEGEE does is connected with the society and there are someone who can support you.
- Compulsory workshops. Some topics are so relevant that need to be included in every NWM of a certain semester, no matter the location. This semester they were connected with the Action Agenda and “Erasmus for All” programme.
- Your opinion matters. Although it should be always like this in AEGEE, in this case it really emerged for me. Workshop leaders just set the discussion, the quality of which was formed by the interaction. The limited number of participant in a NWM if compared to Agora or EBM (or NWM Torún) and the division in sub-groups let even very shy members to express their thoughts.
- Will of concreteness. Lot of discussion may let you think that you are loosing the point. However, the practical application of what we talked about was stressed. There was not just a description of the “Erasmus for all”, but measures to prevent its application have been suggested. Same for the Action Agenda (not to prevent it, but how to reach its goals of course).
- Epiphanies. I want to stop at 10, which is a round nice number, but simply I could not. I needed to mention this last point. Epiphanies is the term that best describes a “AHA experience”, the feeling of finally, suddenly understanding something. I have to confess that before this NWM my belief about projects was that they were definitely a nice tool, but difficult to design, something that just “exceptional minds” could come out. But it is as clear as “there is a problem, a project is its solution!”. This was just one example of epiphanies. One of my friends realised, instead, how easy it is to make an action connected with the Action Agenda. And sure, there are many more.
Although it may sound like a boring end, I want to take this occasion to thank once more organisers, workshop leaders and fellow participants! Aitäh!
Written by Martina Zanero, AEGEE-Torino
Photographs provided by Patrick Kirsch, AEGEE-Köln