Interviews
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In general EESTEC helped me to open my
mind, having some cultural understanding.
There was a core group, in every LC, and actually at that time LCs
were National Committees since there was only one per country. Those
people were the ones who worked hard, created ideas and realized
activities for the whole NatCom.
Can you tell us which Local Committees were the most active ones
and where EESTECers travelled most?
As far as I remember, the most active committees were Delft, Aachen,
Helsinki, Budapest, Ljubljana, Bologna.
Have you been involved in organization of any event?
In Aachen I helped arranging two exchanges with Budapest and one
with Israel. The only workshop I remember is the one in Denmark on
renewable energies. I was involved in annual congresses in Madrid and
Vienna. These annual congresses were the main common element of
EESTEC across all countries. The spirit back then was to take part in
basically all event where the local committee was involved, host our
friends from abroad in our houses, and basically accompany to whole
group all the time.
Which part of your EESTEC job did you enjoy the most?
It was definitely meeting with other people from different nationalities.
The organization was very interesting but the most exciting part was
to be with other people all over Europe. For me, meeting some people
from different cultures and backgrounds was exactly the most joyful
part of EESTEC. I also enjoyed publishing the EESTEC newsletter for
a while, since that was a main communication tool in the organization
at that time.
How was the work-flow and the bonding established in the Board?
The Board was a very informal group in those years and the workflow
was totally informal. The hardest thing was to communicate. I remember we used the University’s central telex machine to connect to eastern Europe, and the fax machine was a novelty, email unheard of. This
is of course very much different today, but this was the main handicap
for us. I had my first email account in 1992, I am not sure I ever received
a mail related to EESTEC on that account, it was simply not the usual
way to communicate. The Aachen committee had one central computer with an e-mail account, where we produced the newsletter of
EESTEC. The World Wide Web was definitely not something common
at that time. Telephone was much more relevant. Communication was
typically scarce and to the point.
As for the Local Committee in Aachen, we met almost every week in the
context of the weekly gatherings on the general student organization.
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Back then my motivation was about meeting people
from different cultures and nationalities.
Which are the moments that you will never forget and happened during your EESTEC responsibilities?
I think those unforgettable moments are mostly from the exchanges
with Budapest and Haifa. During the exchange in Israel, we visited
many cities and stayed in our friends’ homes, spent a night in the desert and finally continued across the border to Egypt. As I said, it was
always and primarily connected to the people we met. Besides this, the
Madrid Conference was extremely exciting and great fun - definitely
hard to forget.
Actually Aachen and Budapest had very warm personal relations, we
were close friends at that time. From that exchange I especially remember seeing the the countryside of Hungary, travelling around with
our friends in private cars. That was an exceptional thing, not as easy
as it is today.
How did EESTEC contribute in achieving your goals and starting
your career?
In general EESTEC helped me to open my mind, having some cultural
understanding. Getting acquainted with other nationalities is very beneficial for your own character. The personal and cultural element was
the greatest value from my perspective.
Did you expect EESTEC to be expanded and improved to the level
it is now?
I was expecting that EESTEC would get more organized and you did!
Basis democracy was phasing out when I finished my University. EESTEC grew much bigger and developed many more activities. The spirit seems great. Also network definitely seems to have increased, and
that’s very good. Remember: The total number of active members in
committees was maybe around 200 in those years. Today, it seems to
count in thousands, although maybe hard to say how many are really
active. Workshops seem popular and much more frequent; back then,
people were more interested in exchanges. I remember the workshop
in Denmark was very successful but otherwise workshops did not go
well and the concept somehow wasn’t successfull.
What would you advise to EESTECers?
Today, when hiring people they are often young and immature just after
graduation from University. It is difficult to work with people that have
not really been a bit around and have some experiences in life as well,
since working in a company requires effective personal interaction with
other people and also good language and soft skills. It may be only me,
but I don’t like working with people who cannot challenge me (and,
hence, make a difference) simply because the struggle with communication, hierarchies or a broader perspective. People who just focused
on studies are not good enough for companies