ESN UJ Krakow

First month of spring is here and so is the new Section in the Spotlight, located in cultural heart of Poland, the ESN UJ Krakow.The organization was established in 2001 by Eva Krzaklewska and accepted an official ESN section by ESN International in 2002 so they are about to celebrate their 10th anniversary this year! Throughout those years ESN UJ managed to build great relations with their Alma Mater, Jagellonian University Cracow.

ESN UJ Team consists of 40 members and 30 active newbies working in 3 levels:
1. The Board (5 person)
2. Team Coordinators (Culture, Travel, Social, Party, Sport, Law Advisory Group, IT)
3. Project Coordinators (ESN Card, Mentor system, Discover Europe, Accomodation)
Besides that, section has around 160 mentors available for incoming Erasmus students. Various teams have meetings every week plus there is a general meeting of Board & Coordinators where strategic tasks are being discussed and future plans for section being arranged. Other than that, sections uses mailing lists & FB groups for communication.
To ensure proper knowledge transfer, ESN Angels project was established. Each experienced ESNer can get up to 3 newbies to take care of and explain them all parts of section work and what ESN is about.

First contact with new Erasmus goes through Welcome e-Mail. They provide schedule of Orientation Week, basic info about University & city as well as offer help with accommodation if necessary. Regular updates are being sent to Erasmus about ESN events throughout semester. ESN UJ Cracow offers wide range of ESN Card discounts as well.

Several SocialErasmus events are being organized such as Santa Claus Day, Erasmus Forrest, Charity Calendar or Dream Cup (football tournament between Erasmus & also kids from orphanages).  Section provides a lecture concerning polish laws that Erasmus might come in touch with as well as workshop to overcome cultural shock in Poland. Non Corporate Summer is a name of an Infomarket about internships & exchanges that anyone can volunteer in during holiday. Of course Weekly Tandem Language meeting cannot be missing. There are several trips being organized all around Poland and nearby countries and generally all kinds of cultural events Cracow can offer. Section also makes Responsible Parties. Currently ESN UJ launched an ESN Band project where 3 ESNers & 5 Erasmus create a band and are supposed to play for 10th Anniversary Gala for instance.

 Flagship project of ESN UJ Cracow is called ESNalia (Last year Promo) and is being organised under United ESN Cracow. Its a project connected with Juwenalia (a traditional festival before exam period for Polish students in every city and its idea is to familiarize polish students with activities of ESN in Cracow such as Eurodinner, sports events, city game & clubbing of course. This year it is to be organised for the second time ever and it aims to become regular part of Cracow's calendar of events thus making cultural schedule of the city more colorful. We shall not forget the fact that ESNalia is the only festival in Poland aimed at foreign students with international integration as main objective. And its organised entirely by ESNers =.)

To achieve highest possible Pallomeri spirit, ESN UJ makes workshops & teambuilding for members, events for mentors, Newbie & Integration Camp. Section also participates in all National Statutory Meetings, National Events such as Discover Europe or ESN Olympics. Previous NB President came from their section. Latest International ESN event organized by ESN UJ Cracow was CEP Cracow November 2011. Section members participate in all International ESN meetings they possibly can. ESN UJ is part of Section Partnership between Prague, Cracow & Dresden.

To conclude let me quote one sentence from their application “We don't know a word 'problem' - there is only a NEW  CHALLENGE :)”

written by Prokop Teper