Over the weekend of 12-13th of April, delegates from all 12 ESN Lithuania sections, as well as representatives from ESN Alumni, gathered within the welcoming walls of Mykolas Romeris University in the capital Vilnius to attend already the second edition of ESN Lithuania’s National training programme – Survival KIT Vol. 2.

ESN is all about improving, motivating and aiming higher. That is why the second piece of training cake had to be bigger, better and with an international taste. ESN Lithuania HRC Tomas, who was nurturing the idea of National trainings for quite some time, remarks: “I was very happy to see such activeness among the sections: the number of applicants was increasing each day and every spot was taken”. Four ESN Eduk8 trainers from Austria, Switzerland, Poland and Czech Republic shared their knowledge on time planning, leadership, constructive feedback and conflict management. Let’s take a short look back over the things that inspired members of ESN Lithuania this past weekend.

Day 1, Saturday

After a short opening word, trainers took the initiative into their hands leading a series of vibrant and dynamic energizers and teambuilding activities that allowed us learn a thing or two about each other and feel more comfortable working together. Later on, for workshops to be more effective and productive, participants were divided into three smaller teams and from that very moment members of ESN Lithuania are better known as cherries, strawberries and watermelons. Three out of four fields were covered during the first day of trainings, involving a lot of practical assignments, role playing and discussion.

In leadership and time planning workshop, instructed by Ludo “the Lazy Lizard” Coudray from ESN Switzerland, participants learned how to recognize different types of leaders, what strategies to apply in order to ensure effective section-work and progress; how to prioritize and plan your schedule. Communication expert Robert Banet from ESN Poland performed valuable workshop on delivering and receiving constructive feedback, which is an essential part in maintaining an operative ESN work from local to international levels. Members were taught some methods of positively delivering criticism. At the end, everyone were only left craving for more.

The day was not over yet as OC from Mykolas Romeris University had prepared a challenging surprise. ESN’ers and trainers participated in a scavenger hunt and discovered the secrets of Vilnius. Afterwards everyone met up to have some refreshments.

Day 2, Sunday

Starting off the last day with some powerful energizers, participants headed to their last workshops. Working side by side, Lukas Oppermann from ESN Austria and Stanislav Stanek from ESN Czech Republic delivered crucially beneficial session on conflict management. Before starting, participants were asked to share their expectations on the upcoming workshop. Two hours of strategic actions, performances and analysis of real-life conflict situations both in daily and ESN life caused great discussions in the room. For most, expectations raised at the beginning were fulfilled or even exceeded as from now on everyone will keep in mind that avoiding conflicts is not an option.

It did not take long for the trainings to prove being worthy as towards the end of day 2, motivated, eager and fruitful with fresh ideas, ESNers brainstormed about the future projects of ESN Lithuania. Hoping that planted ideas will soon harvest into prosperous and large projects participants reviewed this notably productive weekend after which Eduk8 trainer Stanislav Stanek had this to say: “It was very inspiring to see how motivated the participants are after the Survival Kit training. As a trainer it is a best reward you can get. I hope that we encouraged them to be hungry for new knowledge and they will spread their enthusiasm in every section!”

And spread they will. There are already some new ideas pursued throughout the network. It is safe to say that everyone left with bigger baggage than they came with: knowledge of new fields, motivation, inspiration and promising new acquaintances once again ignited the spirit of ESN!

Huge thanks on behalf of ESN Lithuania to Živilė and the whole MRU team who courageously stepped up in organizing and hosting the Survival KIT Vol.2 National trainings!

P.S. People say, all of them took a good selfie...

by Karolis Kriuka, proud member of ESN LT PuRe Committee, [email protected]