Do you remember the day you signed up for the best adventure of your life? Do you remember why you wanted to join AEGEE-Groningen in the first place? Adriaan, Annelies en Mark will share their memories with you!
Mark
It feels like I am a member for ages, and in fact, this is quite true. I am a member since February 2015 and still remember my first evening in the “Ome Ko’’ – which was the previous name of De Brouwerij. I went to a ‘bring your friends – social drink’ and I was easily convinced after a few beers. We still had beers for one euro #greattimes. I just wanted to check it out and leave early, but somehow I don’t remember at what time I left and I became part of AEGEE.
Firstly I joined some European events before I became more active on the local level. I joined an event in May 2015 in Brussels, where I figured out how amazing AEGEE-Europe could be. I went to a Summer Event in Malta and I experienced my first Agora in Kyiv in October.
I didn’t do that much in Groningen until I joined a committee around that time. My committee convinced me to join social drinks every single week and nowadays it feels like my second home. I guess I made during that cold evening in February 2015 one of the best decisions of my life.
Annelies
Why did I, Annelies, join AEGEE? When I started to study in Groningen back in 2014, I did not know of the existence of AEGEE-Groningen for two years. During the KEI-Week of 2016, a friend of mine recommended AEGEE-Groningen after I could not really be fully myself at other various associations. “A European travel association?” I said, “Those people must be open-minded and true to themselves”, and they were. I felt right at home at the very first borrel in the Brouwerij, and it escalated into a board year in 2018 till 2019. Feeling right at home does not only include Groningen, but in every city where an AEGEE-local is located. During excursions and hitchhiking competitions, the local AEGEEans who welcome you there do everything in their power to make you feel comfortable, show you their local traditions and offer you their homes. More beautiful than that is not possible, right?
A challenge for you: as Corona affects every association with physical promotion possibilities, let all your friends, family and pets know about this amazing, open-minded and adventurous association and bring them along!
Adriaan
I first came in contact with AEGEE-Groningen through two of my friends, they were both members. I was looking for something new and had met some AEGEE people at a party. They were old board members and reeled me in before I knew it, I joined an activity and there I promised to become a member. This was a barbeque right before the summer holidays. During the holidays there weren’t any AEGEE activities that I could, or dared to, join and when the new introduction period came around I chickened out of joining in. The day of the second intro dinner came around, which was called a Europe dinner at the time, and I said fuck it and joined the dinner one of my friends was hosting. Intro dinners can be a little bit awkward and I was even more awkward, I sat through it though and made the great decision to go to the social drink. Since that day I’ve always felt welcome at AEGEE-Groningen and during my seven years at the organisation I hope I made everyone feel as welcome as I did. I hope you have as much fun there as I did and that you make the best of these times! See you somewhere in Europe!
