Erasmus Student Network AUBG: Take Two




If you have no idea what the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) is, you are not alone. Many learn about its existence only after starting their own exchange program. ESN is an independent non-governmental student organization that recognizes the value of international education and intercultural understanding and works to increase it on a local, national, and international level.

 

The main principle of the organization – Students Helping Students (SHS) – is based on the cooperation between full-time students at the host institution and incoming Erasmus students. This cooperation is above all driven by the Erasmus+ Buddy System. To put it simply, a buddy is a first friend in a new environment.

 

The buddies (local students) voluntarily use their knowledge and experience to provide incomings (incoming students) with practical assistance and basic academic guidance. In addition, they help with events, activities, and trips, organized by ESN members to facilitate social integration.

 

Starting and developing such a buddy system at AUBG has the potential to prevent or at least reduce the initial discomfort many Erasmus students experience upon arrival. Angela Milano from the University of Naples Federico II who chose AUBG for her Fall 2021 exchange semester shared: “Before coming to AUBG, I didn't know anyone, not even the other Italian (Michela). This made everything more difficult, starting from zero. … Honestly, in the beginning, I noticed a lot of detachment from my culture and I didn't feel at home. Then, as the days went by, I also began to feel physical discomfort.”

 

Angela received great support and advice from the one-person AUBG Erasmus office, namely Mariya Handzhiyska, and with time “met so many guys who had also been catapulted into a totally foreign context.” Although Angela eventually grew to love her time at AUBG, an effective ESN could have saved her a lot of negative emotions and lowered the pressure exerted on the overburdened Erasmus office. Having a buddy to talk to and ask questions can make incomings calmer, more prepared, and more confident prior to the start of the semester.

 

Angela Milano (upper-left) during the Fall 2021 AUBG Orientation week. Photo courtesy of Angela Milano.

 

ESN offers benefits not only to exchange students but also to local students. Sven Bögel from the University of Augsburg joined his home university’s ESN section inspired by his academic year at AUBG. Members of ESN Augsburg refer to their involvement in the organization as “doing Erasmus at home.”

 

Sven’s university has more than 20,000 students, so in his eyes, finding friends and other Erasmus people there is sometimes very difficult. AUBG is much smaller and does not receive that many exchange students (for reference, the number of Erasmus and ISEP students altogether for the current Fall 2022 semester at AUBG is 45). Incomings meet each other during orientation week and start doing their own thing without much external intervention.

 

Yet, ESN AUBG will still be useful because there will always be people who need more support in the adaptation process than others. From the perspective of full-time AUBG students, ESN further enhances their chances of experiencing various cultures, creating memories, and building an international network of life-long connections.

 

Erasmus, and ESN in particular, cuts the distance between countries from Eastern and Western Europe in socio-cultural aspects such as youth development and active citizenship, mobility, and diversity. “It creates a sense of social responsibility and community, thus bringing young Europeans closer and enhancing the sense of European identity,” former National Secretary of ESN Bulgaria, Sava Dikov, said.

 

Sava Dikov representing ESN Bulgaria at an international ESN event. Photo courtesy of ESN Bulgaria.

 

This view is supported by Margaritis Schinas, Vice-President of the European Commission, who noted the importance of Erasmus during the celebration of the Erasmus+ Program’s 35th anniversary back in September: “Because if the Euro is Europe's wallet and Schengen is Europe's passport, or rather non-passport, then Erasmus is Europe's soul."

 

Adjusting ESN to the AUBG context will nourish this soul, while student inclusion will keep showering it with ingenuity, enthusiasm, and hope for the future.

 

Check out ESN Bulgaria here: https://linktr.ee/esnbulgaria 

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