Summarizing all the moments and the experience from three Congresses is certainly impossible. Too many people, conversations, decisions, intense moments inside and outside of the GM rooms. A whole new different experience from a regular event, different concept, different approach. And this approach also changes according to your role there. I was lucky enough to participate in these 3 Congresses under 3 different roles: Unofficial participant, Official participant and BATCAM.
The first one was the 3rd Autumn Congress in Budapest. There, everything was new to me: fancy clothes, tight schedule, formal conversations and procedures, interesting presentations and reports and of course, the amount of names that you have to keep track of! And everyone seemed to know each other for some reason! 😛 While this kind of event may lack in getting to know the city that hosts it or bonding with all of the participants (because it would be impossible), its unique characteristics undoubtedly make up for them. During that Congress I was trying to absorb all the information that I was listening to, trying to learn from experienced members about judging a situation with the right criteria and certainly started thinking of EESTEC as a whole, outside of my branch’s bubble. I became familiar with the international level of EESTEC and some administrative stuff and procedures and it felt like we were actually shaping the future together during that event.
My second Congress in Athens was a bit different. There were a lot more people, many of whom I already knew and I was significantly better prepared for it. Although I certainly didn’t expect the emotional moments that it involved… Choosing the next people to represent a whole association is far from easy. There are a lot of things to think about, both by the Members and the applicants. It gets emotional, judgemental and sometimes tough. Things are getting serious quickly. The casual conversations during the breaks and the nights out, turn into exchanging opinions for the future of EESTEC, and it’s actually beautiful. This time there was a lot more bonding, especially with people from the other greek branches (not an international approach but #sorrynotsorry). In Athens I really made some friendships that I hope they will last in the future.
Last but not least, there was Essen. There, my goal was to represent the Data Team and help the future chairwoman of LC Thessaloniki represent our LC in the best way possible and gain a lot of experience. I was also one of the minutes-editors which means I had to pay a lot of attention to what was said during the GMs and be in contact with the Secretaries. That proved itself super fun! It was the first time I had to do a presentation and I managed at least to prevent my hand from shaking :-P. Of course the country played a major role. It was Germany, I was close to the city where I did my Erasmus studies and everything was so familiar and nostalgic. Despite the cold and some difficulties during the event, it certainly was an amazing experience. I was more mature, I was among people I love and like after all Congresses, it felt like we had made an impact on the future of EESTEC.
Elina Ntozi