Summertime is fast approaching and most students are looking forward to their vacations. But for those students who are still wondering how to spend the summer, participating in European student society AEGEE’s two-week ‘Summer University’ program is a great way to visit and learn about other European countries, and make new friends in the process.
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The main idea behind AEGEE’s Summer University program is to spend two weeks with a group of approximately 25 students in one or more EU countries. These two-week EU adventures are organized by the local AEGEE organizations in the various participating countries. Participants spend two weeks at a foreign university, where they learn about the country, culture and language. But it’s not all work and no play: Having fun and partying with the locals is also part of program’s schedule of events.
The two-week summer programs start during the last week of June and continue until the beginning of September. There are approximately 100 programs with varying themes to choose from; for example, one program has a traveling theme, another a summer events theme, while others have a more educational focus. Participants, of course, can choose the program theme that most appeals to them.
Arjan Smit, a 23-year-old student of Marine Technology, is an AEGEE member and former president of the student society. During the summer of 2002, Smit participated in Summer University programs in Poland and Belarus. The trip was entitled ‘Another Break in the Wall’, which, as the title suggests, was all about experiencing how people on both sides of the border lived, as well as studying the differences between them. Of the group of 25 students on this trip, five of them were Dutch and the other 20 students of 11 different nationalities. For Smit, much of the initial fun was not knowing in advance the nationalities of his fellow group members.
Smit says his two main reasons for participating in the Summer University program were, firstly, his love of traveling, and secondly, his eagerness to meet new people who spoke different languages and had different customs and habits. He says that participating in the program was also a great motivation for visiting countries he perhaps normally would never have visited, like Belarus. Moreover, the program allows you to learn more about the country your visiting, because, unlike most tourists, you don%t just go to the places that the guidebook tells you to visit. Participating in Summer University programs also enabled Smit to build up a ‘network of people’ spread across Europe, and he believes this network will come in handy in future, should he decide to revisit those countries. On its most basic level, however, traveling with a Summer University group for two weeks is simply a wonderful way to make new friends.
In 2003, Smit organized a summer university program here in Delft. But this year he has decided to participate in another Summer University program and has chosen three options: one is traveling in the Ukraine; another is traveling between Moscow and St. Petersburg; and the last is traveling to Helsinki, Stockholm and St. Petersburg.
Welcome
For those who have never heard of AEGEE, it’s a European student society whose ultimate goal is to stimulate the integration of European students in the cities in which they study. AEGEE does this by organizing various activities, like congresses, summer university programs, parties, and other events focused on bringing students together. AEGEE is active all over Europe, from Spain to Estonia, Greece to Finland, and the various European AEGEE branches cooperate with each other, as do the AEGEE branches in each country. Local AEGEE branches organize their activities according to the demands of student life in that particular university city.
AEGEE Delft has approximately 130 members, of whom 30 are active and participate in the society’s commission. It%s fairly inexpensive to become an AEGEE member, costing only 27 euros per year, which members say is nothing compared to what you get in return. Every Wednesday night, starting at 10 p.m., AEGEE members and foreign students gather at café De Ruif (Kerkstraat 22) for drinks and socializing. New foreign TU students are welcome to attend these gatherings, and AEGEE stresses that this includes all foreign students, not just those from EU countries.
In addition to the Wednesday night meetings, AEGEE regularly organizes excursions for foreign students to other cities, like Amsterdam, Maastricht, Köln and Aachen. Students do not have to be a member of AEGEE to go on one of these excursions, which are subsidized by the European Union and TU Delft. Other AEGEE activities include organizing international dinner parties, workshops, and presentations and discussions about EU-related topics, such as Islam in the EU; Human Trafficking; and EU Enlargement.
To participate in a Summer University program, applications must be submitted before the April 22nd deadline. Application forms are available online at, www.aegee-delft.nl/su2004., where it’s also possible to view the schedule of programs on offer this summer. The cost of joining a Summer University program is 175 euros, which includes all transportation costs within the country of your chosen destination, plus two meals a day. Note, however, that you must pay the transportation costs to and from the country yourself. You are also must become a member of AEGEE before submitting your application.
www.aegee-delft.nl . .
www.aegee.org . .
Summertime is fast approaching and most students are looking forward to their vacations. But for those students who are still wondering how to spend the summer, participating in European student society AEGEE’s two-week ‘Summer University’ program is a great way to visit and learn about other European countries, and make new friends in the process.
The main idea behind AEGEE’s Summer University program is to spend two weeks with a group of approximately 25 students in one or more EU countries. These two-week EU adventures are organized by the local AEGEE organizations in the various participating countries. Participants spend two weeks at a foreign university, where they learn about the country, culture and language. But it’s not all work and no play: Having fun and partying with the locals is also part of program’s schedule of events.
The two-week summer programs start during the last week of June and continue until the beginning of September. There are approximately 100 programs with varying themes to choose from; for example, one program has a traveling theme, another a summer events theme, while others have a more educational focus. Participants, of course, can choose the program theme that most appeals to them.
Arjan Smit, a 23-year-old student of Marine Technology, is an AEGEE member and former president of the student society. During the summer of 2002, Smit participated in Summer University programs in Poland and Belarus. The trip was entitled ‘Another Break in the Wall’, which, as the title suggests, was all about experiencing how people on both sides of the border lived, as well as studying the differences between them. Of the group of 25 students on this trip, five of them were Dutch and the other 20 students of 11 different nationalities. For Smit, much of the initial fun was not knowing in advance the nationalities of his fellow group members.
Smit says his two main reasons for participating in the Summer University program were, firstly, his love of traveling, and secondly, his eagerness to meet new people who spoke different languages and had different customs and habits. He says that participating in the program was also a great motivation for visiting countries he perhaps normally would never have visited, like Belarus. Moreover, the program allows you to learn more about the country your visiting, because, unlike most tourists, you don%t just go to the places that the guidebook tells you to visit. Participating in Summer University programs also enabled Smit to build up a ‘network of people’ spread across Europe, and he believes this network will come in handy in future, should he decide to revisit those countries. On its most basic level, however, traveling with a Summer University group for two weeks is simply a wonderful way to make new friends.
In 2003, Smit organized a summer university program here in Delft. But this year he has decided to participate in another Summer University program and has chosen three options: one is traveling in the Ukraine; another is traveling between Moscow and St. Petersburg; and the last is traveling to Helsinki, Stockholm and St. Petersburg.
Welcome
For those who have never heard of AEGEE, it’s a European student society whose ultimate goal is to stimulate the integration of European students in the cities in which they study. AEGEE does this by organizing various activities, like congresses, summer university programs, parties, and other events focused on bringing students together. AEGEE is active all over Europe, from Spain to Estonia, Greece to Finland, and the various European AEGEE branches cooperate with each other, as do the AEGEE branches in each country. Local AEGEE branches organize their activities according to the demands of student life in that particular university city.
AEGEE Delft has approximately 130 members, of whom 30 are active and participate in the society’s commission. It%s fairly inexpensive to become an AEGEE member, costing only 27 euros per year, which members say is nothing compared to what you get in return. Every Wednesday night, starting at 10 p.m., AEGEE members and foreign students gather at café De Ruif (Kerkstraat 22) for drinks and socializing. New foreign TU students are welcome to attend these gatherings, and AEGEE stresses that this includes all foreign students, not just those from EU countries.
In addition to the Wednesday night meetings, AEGEE regularly organizes excursions for foreign students to other cities, like Amsterdam, Maastricht, Köln and Aachen. Students do not have to be a member of AEGEE to go on one of these excursions, which are subsidized by the European Union and TU Delft. Other AEGEE activities include organizing international dinner parties, workshops, and presentations and discussions about EU-related topics, such as Islam in the EU; Human Trafficking; and EU Enlargement.
To participate in a Summer University program, applications must be submitted before the April 22nd deadline. Application forms are available online at, www.aegee-delft.nl/su2004., where it’s also possible to view the schedule of programs on offer this summer. The cost of joining a Summer University program is 175 euros, which includes all transportation costs within the country of your chosen destination, plus two meals a day. Note, however, that you must pay the transportation costs to and from the country yourself. You are also must become a member of AEGEE before submitting your application.
www.aegee-delft.nl . .
www.aegee.org . .
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