The Sub Regional Meeting in Zurich, Switzerland was my first international IAAS event and it was very exciting. It was a weekend full of interesting soft skill trainings, city tours and nice food (especially at the trade fair). The SRM has really motivated me to become an active member in IAAS Ghent and generally in IAAS World!
The first day was introduction day. Most of the participants arrived at the ETH (the university of Zürich) during the afternoon and we had a nice lunch just outside of the university. There we talked about our studies and how the education system in our country works. It was a real eyeopener! I was surprised how universities could be so different in neighbouring countries.
Next stop was our cottage where we were going to stay. It was about an hour away with public transportation and a very steep hill to climb by foot but it was worth it. We unpacked and had dinner with the entire group. In an effort to get to know everyone’s name, we played a game. When someone threw an red apple at you, you had to say that person’s name. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t winning, in fact I might have been the worst player playing the game. Afterwards we played a game where you had lettuce, tape and paper and had to protect an egg with those supplies from a fall from the first floor. This is a fun way to learn how to work together.
Day two: first day of the actual event. We started off early in the morning with a nice breakfast and returned to the ETH afterwards. First subject of the day: soft skill training with Till. “How do I improve my listening skills?”. We talked about the HURIER model (Hearing, Understanding, Remembering, Interpreting, Evaluation and Responding) and how it could help us during a conversation. The workshop was filled with useful information, interactive games to help prove the point and schemes.
Next on the agenda: a city tour! We were split into 3 different groups and received a map. There were 6 spots marked on the map and we were told to go to these places and do the assignments. The tasks ranged from taking a selfie to giving compliments to strangers. We had a lot of fun! We explored the rest of the city before returning to the ETH. We returned to the cottage, had another nice dinner and played a new game. This time we had to mimic a certain word and the others would try to guess it. It was an evening full of laughter and big smiles, certainly a memorable moment.
Day three: After an original wake-up call, very loud music to be exact, we had breakfast and headed back to the uni. The planning was similar as the previous day: an soft skill training in the morning, lunch and another activity. This time the subject of the training was body language and communication in stressful situations. The body language session was my favourite part because it could be used instantly during the presentations we were going to give that day. The training ended and we had our last lunch together.
Three different presentations were planned during the noon. The first one was from Christine Gould about Thought for food. It was the first time that I heard of this. Christine is a very energetic person with a great passion for her work. It was a delightful presentation with a lot of innovating concepts and ideas. Thought for Food has a mission to empower youth to feed the world. They hold big conferences and events for youth to work on feeding the world.
The second presentation was from Celine (IAAS Belgium) about the future opportunities for IAAS members. Also a very nice presentation with a lot of cool things to attend. I was surprised that, as an IAAS member, I had a lot of opportunities to go to international events. The last presentation was from Jerneja (IAAS Slovenia) about our ExPro’s (Exchange Program) which was an introduction for me to the concept of going on an internship.
Later that day we had to make a presentation about how we could improve our local committee on different aspects and had to present it. It occurred to me that all the social skill training I had the last days, helped me to give my presentation. I presented my thoughts and ideas for local events and projects we could hold in Belgium and Ghent and received my certificate for participating in this sub-regional meeting!
We concluded the day with a Trade Fair. This is a must if you are going to an IAAS event and now I know why! It was very nice to be able to taste different kinds of drinks and food from all the countries. We had food from Belgium (Beer and Chocolate), Slovenia, Serbia, France, Germany, Mexico, Austria, Sweden and Switzerland. IAAS Switzerland (the organising committee OC) had invited our partners of EGEA (European Geography Association - for Students and Young Geographers) so we could get to know them better. We showed everyone how to dance 't Smidje by Laïs and had loads of fun listening to music from all over Europe and learning their dances. This was an ideal closing event for an event that I’ll never forget.
