Do you like to get involved with foreign students?

Aegee Bergamo organizes events for the purpose of creating and uniting both the community of foreign students and local AEGEE members.

Yeah but what is the Erasmus Project and how did it come about? The Erasmus Project, an acronym for European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students, was created in 1987 by the European Community. The name of the program comes from the Dutch humanist and theologian Erasmus of Rotterdam (15th century): he traveled several years throughout Europe to understand its different cultures. The project was created to educate future generations of citizens in the idea of belonging to what would later be called the European Union. It was also thanks to the then student association EGEE, now AEGEE (Yes! That’s us!) that the project was born; in fact, in 1986-87, it convinced the then French president, François Mitterrand, to support the Erasmus exchange program. Today, more than 4,000 university institutions in the 31 countries participating in the Socrates program participate in the Erasmus project and, to date, more than 2.2 million students have taken part. Erasmus gives a European student the opportunity to study at a foreign university or undertake an internship in a country present within the Union for a period ranging from 3 to 12 months. Students can also be mobilized to some countries associated with the Union such as Liechtenstein, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey.

For many European university students, the Erasmus program offers an opportunity to live abroad independently for the first time. For this reason, it has become a kind of cultural phenomenon and is very popular among European university students. Among other things, the Erasmus experience was the theme of a recent hit movie “The Spanish Apartment” in which characters from various nations of Europe meet in Barcelona where they will spend a year studying at the local university. The program not only encourages learning and understanding of the host culture but also a sense of community among students from different countries. The Erasmus experience is considered not only a university time but also an opportunity to learn to live with different cultures, as well as a time when the student begins to take on responsibilities. AEGEE Bergamo allows foreign students to participate in theme nights, events or workshops. Theme evenings can be evenings when special activities, such as “aperasmus,” are organized. In Events like these the common denominator is fun! Ideas for other events or parties may be generated during these evenings. Events are usually organized in the daytime where fun or non-fun activities, such as go-kart races, are held.

AEGEE also offers the “Buddy Program,” which is a tutoring service that creates a pair between a foreign student and a boy from Bergamo to help him during his experience here.