Antonija is an English and French student, specialized in translation at the University of the sunny Zagreb. Read the interview and discover how motivated and passionate she really is about being active within AEGEE and improving the relations between the antennae around Europe.
The AEGEEan: How will your life change if you get elected? Do you think this will affect the way you are active in your antenna?
If I get elected, I suppose AEGEE will take up more of my time than it does now, and I am actually excited about that prospect. Although I have been active in AEGEE from the very start, I never had the time to dedicate myself to it as much as I wanted to. But now I am almost finished with my studies, and I have enough experience in AEGEE to take my work to the next level and to contribute more to the Network.
As for my activity in my local, I am currently vice president and secretary, so I am actively involved in the work of AEGEE-Zadar, but my term will end in June, and from that moment on I intend to take on a more advisory role. AEGEE-Zadar is full of amazing people, and so far I have really enjoyed working with them. I have no doubt that this will continue if I become their Network Commissioner. I will always be invested in their work and be there for them.
How do you think your non AEGEE experience helped you develop your
skills?
I am the kind of person who sees every experience as a chance for self-development. My various experiences outside of AEGEE have helped me develop as a person, and to acquire some skills that I think would help me in my work as a Network Commissioner. Through my studies, extracurricular activities and volunteer work, I have had the chance to cooperate with many different people on various projects, and I have learned to be flexible and to adjust to different working circumstances. I acknowledge that we are all different and I always take those differences into consideration when working with someone, approaching every person in a way that will increase the quality of our work as much as possible. I think this individual approach is important in a Network Commissioner as every antenna is different and deals with different issues. I have become very aware of the world around me, of how society and individuals function. Because of that, people often ask me for all kinds of advice. My friends even jokingly call me “life coach” because I am always helping them deal with different situations in their lives. In my opinion, being a kind of person who is oriented on problem-solving certainly comes in handy in Network Commission.
Many antennae will be deleted in Agora Rhein-Neckar as they do not
fulfil all the criteria, so how do you intend to introduce AEGEE to cities
that are not even aware of its existence?
Well, my priority is definitely strengthening antennae and contact antennae that already exist. I intend to focus on increasing the quality of knowledge transfer, increasing awareness of our members about different opportunities to become active in AEGEE, helping them develop their skills through training, and overall, helping locals grow and become more stable. But through my work as a Subcommissioner, I have seen that an interest in AEGEE also exists in cities where AEGEE is not present, so I would like to try to expand our Network and reach out to people in those cities. While I do focus on quality of antennae rather than quantity, I think that having more locals in the Network would increase the diversity and would bring new ideas to AEGEE. However, I will not try to force making new contacts if there turns out to be no interest whatsoever.
Did your experience in The AEGEEan help you in your studies?
Being a proofreader for The AEGEEan has definitely helped me in my studies. Both in proofreading and translation, there is an emphasis on producing a high-quality text, where all facts have to be checked, the grammar has to be correct, all names have to be written correctly, and every element of the text has to sound like it belongs there. The author of the original text and his/her way of writing also has to be taken into account. Proofreading has helped me become more oriented on those details when I am translating.
Written by Cosmina Bisboaca, AEGEE-Torino