ESN Firat

With the beginning of October and the start of autumn we deliver you greetings from the very eastern border of ESN Empire, city of Elazig, where this month‘s Section in the Spotlight ESN FIRAT resides!

ESN FIRAT consists of 50 members, 20 of whom are actively participating in the life of the section and a board of 5 highly motivated ESNers (president, 2 vice-presidents, secretary & treasurer). Their preferred communication channels are e-mail & facebook group/page, however given the size of Elazig, most things are finally done via physical meetings. History of ESN FIRAT dates back as long as March 2010, when initial idea arose in a group of students, to create something new. By the end of April, application to become part of ESN was submitted and on 30th of October 2010 another section was born!

There is always something happening for exchange students in Firat University, if they by any chance get too bored by attending ESN events, they can simply flip the side and join the OC of various events as volunteers to make them even cooler. In the summer, an international team composed of Erasmus interns was formed in order to write & prepare new projects. For the upcoming year, they have been working on a brand new SocialErasmus project that for the moment is kept secret. One thing is for sure, this project will be BIG!

Every semester in Firat starts with a Welcome Party, but unlike most sections, Welcome Parties of ESN FIRAT do not take place in a club but in someone’s house to create warmer atmosphere and get closer to each other. Exchange students are also encouraged to make presentations about their countries/universities for local students who are willing to go on Erasmus. Of course plenty of other events like cultural trips, cooking days, karaoke contests, movie nights, and parties are done to ensure Erasmus students are never bored. If we should name one event not to be missed, a MUST to attend when visiting ESN FIRAT, it is without any doubt their Hazar Lake Camp! At the end of each academic year, new & old ESNers together with exchange students gather for 2-3 days on the shores of probably the most famous lake in Eastern Anatolia where ESN FIRAT prepares a rich program full of fun & training events which can possibly compete with famous survivor programs.

As ESN FIRAT is the most popular student club in Firat University, there is no need for them to try encouraging local students to take part in their activities - they often want to join anyway. This gives ESN FIRAT very strong recognition towards their IRO and they can easily access many internal & external NGOs, media and commercial companies. The section takes care of their members via various workshops, teambuilding & events for active members. There is not a single international event where ESN FIRAT would not be present, their members always attend all NPs, AGMs and other ESN events that they can attend. This is the way how to encourage all members to become more active and involved in ESN. Besides this, ESN FIRAT has a representative in Communication Committee and often invites NB members to visit their section to get to know local members, city & university.

ESN FIRAT is in some ways very unique section. Despite the fact that they are located so far from the national & international centres of the ESN, having minimum number of incoming students and with almost no budget, ESN FIRAT is honoured to be a part of this amazing network. As the famous saying states „The sun rises from the East“, ESN FIRAT modified it for ESN to „The Star will rise up from the East!“

Written by Prokop Teper