Memories last a lifetime
Usually when people consider joining an organisation they focus mostly on the work that is being done in the organisation. Some also pay attention to the mission and vision the organisation has but there is definitely so much more to take into account — things such as great company, wonderful memories and all kinds of stories to tell your grandchildren one day!
Previously we have shined light on what kinds of fun things we do here. This time, we will go even deeper and share some of the best stories and memories that our current members have shared with us.
To start with, I would like you to know that we have a traditional pancake-eating party called Panka. It is supposed to be just a fun socialising event for members but things tend to go differently from planned.
“I remember attending Panka back in 2019. Each year they have different contests and that year we had a pancake eating contest. The contestants were from different AIESEC entities and we also had our national president, who was also taking part in the contest. The reason why this memory is especially memorable is that everyone was eating the pancakes quite fast and quite a few people got a bit sick and kinda wanted to throw up because of that, including our national president.” — Elina, LCP of AIESEC in Tartu
Often things go unplanned but sometimes that is exactly what we aim for. Two such activities are called JFDI (Just Fucking Do It) and Spirit Awards. Both are team activities, first of them performed at conferences and the other one within teams on a certain period of time. All participants are divided into teams and they are given the most odd and crazy tasks to fill in a limited time. Just to give you a few examples: if AIESEC was a bird/animal, demonstrate its mating call; show Elina the way; Humantower.
“I’ve always had so much fun doing JFDIs and Spirit Awards since these things are so random and there’s limited time. I love these kinds of stupid challenge type things so much that I even did a powerpoint on it for a powerpoint party we had. I guess what I like about these is that you just go wild with your ideas. You just have to get the thing done and you don’t really have that much time to think it through really. And the results are always amazing because you try crazy things that just pop into your head and sharing the absolute madness that resides in your brain is just so great. What makes it so awesome is that you get to hear other people’s strange ideas as well and get to experience what is going on inside of their heads. It’s also a great way to bond and build team spirit. JFDIs are probably the most fun parts of the conferences for me.” Risto, LCVP of AIESEC in Tartu
Sometimes everything turns out just perfectly. My favourites by far have been all kinds of chillaxes. These events take place quite often, usually once a month. The topics are always different — it can be anything you can imagine. The ones that pop up in my head first are SPA and Slavic chillaxes. On our little spa night we had a yoga and meditation class followed by a skincare session with sheet masks.
On Slavic chillax all of us had Slavic names and we were asked to dress according to the topic. We had some “traditional Slavic” activities and games such as a costume contest and onion slicing competition. For that all participants had to slice onions as fast as they could. As most of us started crying, it was really funny and horrible at the same time.
PS! The team who lost had to eat the onions as a penalty of course!
These are just a few examples of all the memorable things that have happened, the stories are never-ending. But it is not just stories — it is also the people involved in making these memories! We in AIESEC Tartu pay special attention to taking care of all the members and try to spend a lot of time together just having fun and getting to know each other better as it is also a very important part of our organisational culture.
