ESN Alumni But what is the Alumni Medley about? Well, the Alumni Medley is a bi-annual meeting of the Alumni members. The meetings are taking place already for many-many years, but only last year the event got the new name “Alumni Medley”. The main goal of the meetings is to bring the Alumni members together to help them to keep contacts, enjoy the time together and remember the good old times in ESN. Thus, in general the working time is during the meetings minimal. During the autumn meeting serious topics are covered such as elections of the new Alumni Board, Alumni network development, involvement of the Alumni in the activities of ESN International and so on. Soon it is time again for the next Alumni Medley and this time it is taking place in Zurich, Switzerland. The date is to be fixed, but it will for sure take place in May or June. The arrival day will be Thursday and departure day Sunday. Of course, also an exciting programme is planned. So stay tuned for more information, and keep some vacation days free to join the Alumni at the Medley! And what are Aluminiums doing for its members and ESN in general? Besides being a shoulder to cry on, the morning dew on a dry summer, an umbrella on a rainy day, a sugar for your daily coffee, the Alumni network also: ● Supports the development and growth of ESN and Alumni Network ● Promotes fellowship and social activity among alumni ● Promotes communication and pro-
vides information among alumni and develops opportunities for dialogue between alumni and other segments of the network ● Assist the network and its members as a responsible and accountable person ● Promotes fundraising within the network And since we have the opportunity to write this article, we’d like to use this to publish already a fancy call for national Alumni coordinators: “Dear fellow ESN-er … when you started your path - the path of mighty ESNer you were already flirting with once being the alumnius - but don’t get too frustrated .. that’s the circle of … hmm life ?? :)) .. anyway the real fun has just begun … and why not start it there where you started on the first place … this is your biggest excuse to call up your old mates with some freshies on a side and become an ALUMNI NATIONAL COORDINATOR yeeeeee …. … since the Aluminiums are becoming cooler and cooler do not wait that they totally freeze but take some initiative and call our ALY-LINE right now … and if you call in first you’ll recive a brand new CD from a world famous German moving star: “Gymnastik und Tanz fur Ältere” mit Peter Frankenfeld … yeee … and do not forget --- there can be only one --- ….. network awaits you … “ By the way, have you ever wondered what happens to active ESN members after they have left the big international scene? Here comes a first example of a former International Board members of ESN, who is now Alumni and has let ESN, shape her life: Veeli Oeselg “I joined ESN in 2007 and at the beginning war only an inactive local section member, who event didn’t attend all the different events. Somehow, I still got caught in the amazing world of ESN, and after being an OC member of NEP 2008 in Tartu started to play with the thought to run for the Vice President position of ESN International. After a challenging and emotional election campaign at AGM Utrecht I was fortunate and got elected for the International Board. I had a life-changing Board year 2009-2010 in Brussels together with Marketa, Tajana, Troels, Marc, Simone and Gosia. It was a pe-
riod in my life full of new friends, adventures, good and bad experiences, and a tremendous self-development. It changed my direction in life and also my attitude towards the world. Before the IB, I had been working only in the private sector, but after working in a NGO, I decided that I like working in a public sector organisation more. So, I applied for a job in Statistics in Estonia and was chosen for a structure fund project manager position mainly thanks to my previous experience with EU funding. Again, experience which I gained in ESN. However, after some time I realised that the job was just too easy for me, it lost it challenge and I was on a search for something new, something challenging and versatile as ESN. I ended up in Ernst & Young, where I am consulting public sector organisation (incl. ministries), evaluating the EU structure funds and conducting studies on different topics (incl. higher education). I do believe that I would not be able to do my job so good without my ESN experience. It is just the perfect place to learn about policy making, project management, holding trainings and workshop, and just working effectively. I also believe that ESN is like an addiction, a good addiction. Once you have been truly involved, you cannot really finish. So it is that even during my “afterlife” from the IB, I have been engaged in project and activities, where my competencies were needed. Such as also being a member of the Alumni Board :)”
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