Sharing experiences, interesting workshops, up-to-date topics and evenings with live music bring together the first International Student Forum A.G.E. – Active Generation Evolution, which is taking place these days in the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. The event united over 40 participants from different countries around the world. These are students from educational institutions of Poland, Belarus, Moldova, Estonia, Azerbaijan, students of the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute from different countries, as well as students of other Ukrainian universities.
The organizers of the event are the Student Council of the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. They have prepared a rich two-day program. The first day is dedicated to workshops that bring together a variety of topics: internet of things, cybersecurity, public speaking. Speakers include representatives from Lifecell, Global logic, the School of Oral Art. Special attention was paid to travelling: Olexandr Tkachinsky, who hitchhiked thousands of kilometers of countries in Europe and Asia, enthusiastically told about it.
“Ambitious Forum with an ambitious title”
The first day of the forum began with a ceremonial opening and speech by the rector of the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, M.Z. Zgurovsky. In particular, he noted the relevance of this event for university life.
“This is a great idea for us, for our students. I am sure that our students will be very interested to hear representatives for different countries, different cultures. Our students also have something to say to representatives from other countries and universities”, said M.Z. Zgurovsky.
He is convinced that the new forum is very valuable for students, and the abbreviation AGE reflects the modern format and theme of the event. I really like the initiative of our students to launch such an ambitious forum with ambitious name Active Generation Evolution. It will discuss various topics: the challenges facing young people in modern world, the lives of young people, future careers and everything that interests young people. I am amazed that students from 15 universities and 13 countries came to the first forum”, the rector said.
The organizers of the forum admit that this event was preceded by a long preparation, which in the end provided a worthy result.
“Last year we visited the forums in Minsk and Warsaw and decided to organize something similar at home. Many of our students are interested in this: they can stay awake at night, come up with ideas, make up names for the forum. A year ago, we started preparation and somehow everything turned out. Many people were involved in the organization and we have finally got the result”, said Emma Nedzvedska, the Head of the International Department of the Student Council of the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. She is convinced that the forum will evolve and will attract more students from different countries in the coming years. According to the student, the main purpose of the forum is to promote the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and events that take place in it, as well as to build lasting personal contacts between students from different countries on the basis of cooperation between universities.
Therefore, most of the organization was taken over by students. The university administration assisted mainly in technical and documentary aspects. “This is a great achievement when students organize an international student forum on their own. Of course, the representatives of administration attended the meeting of the organizing committee, but we mostly took care of technical and documentary assistance. I think the students did a good job: the last two weeks they had been here day and night. Therefore, all aspects of the organization are taken into account.”, said Natalia Seminska, vice-rector for education work. According to her, the forum gives an opportunity to establish international connections between students, to create a community that will generate new ideas, to unite the interests of the young and the old generation: “They raise important issues that concern young people and we, as the older generation, see what is important to them and help.”
First impressions: Ukrainian Oxford
The participants of the forum from the first day felt the atmosphere of the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute.
Even before the beginning of workshops and entertaining evening events, foreign students shared their impression of the visit to the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. Everyone was excited about the architecture of the university. Selfie near the first academic building was made by every visitor. By the way, posting a photo on social network can be misleading for friends.
“My friend is studying in Kyiv. Once, while browsing through her Instagram page, I was sure that she was posting a photo from Oxford. However, she said it was the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”, said a participant of the forum V. Skorpyuk, the second-year student of the Belarusian National University. He is a frequent visitor of Ukraine and is already fluent in Ukrainian, but he came to the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute for the first time. He is attracted bu Ukrainian hospitality and landscapes, so on the first evening he walked over 40,000 steps walking through the city.
Volodymyr Koitsan, the third-year student at the Moldova State University, is also not the first time in Ukraine. He became acquainted with the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and its students during joint events and this year’s visit to a friend from the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. Among the first brightest impressions of the campus, Volodymyr also notes architecture.
“I like this building from the late 19th century, the whole atmosphere here seems to transports me back into that era. Modern buildings do not have such effect”, the student says. For him, such international forums are not new, he is involved in organization of such events at his university. Therefore, he evaluate the efforts of the students – organizers from a professional point of view. “I understand what the organizers may have problems, but I haven’t seen them yet”, Volodymyr says. He jokes that it is impossible to get lost here or even escape from organizers: “I wanted to take a walk in Kyiv on my own, but volunteers from organizing committee started calling me to ask where I was and offer me a company”.
Anna Krasnikova from the Tallinn University of Technology shared her impression with us: “First of all, a very unusual building attracted my attention. We do not have such buildings as educational – they are mostly administrative. She highly evaluated the work of the organizers, the magnitude of the event and programs offered by the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute for students, including Erasmus program. Similar are the expectations of the forum: getting acquainted with the country and university, establishing relationships with students and prospect of future cooperation.