The academic year is coming to an end: most students are getting ready for their final exams, but some have other things on their mind as well. EM talked with three students, all with very different plans for the summer of 2012.
Organizing a summer camp for rural youth, travelling to Moscow for an internship or having the first ‘real’ holiday in three years: EUR students have a wide variety of summer plans.
PR in Russia
Sandra Ingelson-Wendell, a 22-year-old IBCoM student from Sweden, is getting herself ready to go to Moscow for the summer. For her internship, coordinated by AIESEC, she’ll be preparing and organizing Media and PR events at art spaces in the city, as well as at several universities. She’ll be staying at a Russian host family for 1,5 months, and will work with ten interns from all over the world. Sandra doesn’t know who her host family is yet, but she’s looking forward to experiencing a bit of the real life there: “I’m very excited, because I’ll definitely see how it is to live in Russia.”
So why Moscow? Sandra explains that she was mostly focused on finding an internship in the field of marketing, media and PR, and just happened to find an interesting spot in Moscow. Before she goes, Sandra has to prepare herself by doing some research on trends in the media business, as well as finalizing the paperwork around her visa. In Moscow, she’ll be organizing two events a week, for groups of 30 to 500 people. A lot of work? Sandra: “Luckily, we have preparation time in Moscow, so most of the work will be done there.”
A camp for a good cause
Lyubomir Todorov, a 21-year-old Bulgarian IBEB student, also has more on his mind than making exams. He is currently juggling his Bachelor thesis, four exams, and his voluntary work for MIJARC, an NGO that aims to develop rural areas across the globe. His job for this summer is to organize a summer camp for 60 young people from rural areas in Europe. The goal is to make these young people from different nationalities connect, showing that they’re not that different after all.
Lyubomir (left) with the Bulgarian delegation at last year’s summer camp.
Lyubomir has been working for MIJARC for four years now, and still enjoys his voluntary job: “It’s a lot of work, but also a lot of fun.” When Lyubomir has finished his thesis and his exams, he’ll take a break for about one or two weeks, and will then be starting to work on the organization of the camp full-time.
Finally some freedom
James Dooms, a 22-year-old South-African IBCoM student, is under quite some pressure. James is now a second-year student, and failing one of his two re-sits would mean he cannot continue the IBCoM programme next year. Even though the pressure is on, James hasn’t begun to study yet: “I know I work better under pressure, so I’m postponing it a little.”
After his exams, James will have his first real summer vacation in three years, as in previous summers, he had either been working, studying or doing an internship. He’ll be visiting his brother and his family in the UK, where he will also meet his new baby nephew for the first time, and will then travel on to Bulgaria, to see his girlfriend and meet her family. Finally meeting his girlfriends’ parents: maybe even more stressful than doing some re-sits? James laughs: “No, I don’t get scared that easily.” IS
