June: ESN UAX

Madrid is  not only the home town of  Penelope Cruz and Enrique Iglesias, it is also the hometown of ESN UAX, this month’s Section in the Spotlight. 

ESN UAX is one of the smallest sections in Spain and the sections is less than two years old, but size and age doesn’t matter for the section – they are still full of ESN spirit and consider themselves one big family.

ESN UAX is the first and only student association at the Alfonso X el Sabio University  and the local board consists of 7 members who make sure their 90 exchange students gets the most out of their stay as possible. They value friendship with their students and they do a large effort in always being available and visible. Their office is almost open 24 hours and they have a weekly meeting point so it’s always possible to get help or discuss the latest events with the local board or the other exchange students.

Right from the beginning of the semester the international students gets into the Erasmus life starting with an intense welcome week which includes activities such as museum visits, paintball and huge parties. The section also has a large focus on cultural events and activites and every semester they host a large international dinner where the students cooks and prepares food from their home countries. They also join ESN UCM for private cinema sessions to introduce the international students to Spanish cinema and the rest of the sections in Madrid joins ESN UAX for a typical Spanish party called ”Capea”. 

The section also organizes a weekly football match and at least once pr semester they organize a trip to the stadium of Real Madrid to watch a champions match.

All parties and activities are open to local students who are interested in taking part of ESN.

The section has implemented the use of ESN cards and students gets free museum entrances with their cards. 

The section is active on both the National and International level as well. They never miss and international event and they have had members in both the previous and the current national board. 

ESN UAX is a good example that size doesn’t matter as long as you have great motivation and Pallomeri spirit.