Volunteer training 2018: a place to connect and develop

All in all it was a great opportunity to meet and connect

This meet-up had a predefined agenda and schedule, lasting for almost a whole day. The main topics of the session were volunteering and its advantages and developing networking and mentoring skills.

Assylaiym Yertayeva:
“In my opinion, it was well organized and elaborated by specially invited guests - mentors, who work in the field of marketing and mentorship. The overall atmosphere of meeting was friendly and delightful. From my point of view, the presenters delivered their key messages in a very interactive and interesting way, namely in form of games and quizzes, that enabled us - international students (“perfect strangers”) to get to know each other better. Moreover, at the end of this meeting we became friends and shared the contacts on social media to keep up the connections and share ideas on future volunteering projects. “

Chandara Kan:
“It was a great opportunity to attend the training, where new alumni volunteers gathered at Tempus Public Foundation. It was a nice environment to learn many aspects of volunteering and networking techniques. Me and my fellow alumni volunteers, were getting to know each other better and felt more connected, through several training programs”

Lesson #1: You have to build up your volunteer journey consciously

First, Ms. Emese Zolnai, the senior alumni coordinator of the Alumni Hungary Team, hold a presentation to provide an overview about the activities undertaken by the network and about senior alumni members. Future plans and missions were also part of the discussions, which made the goal of the network much clearer and understandable for the new volunteers.

After this introductory session, the real work had begun, where alumni volunteers had to take an active part in the training. The aim was to get a deeper understanding what it takes to be a good volunteer and how to build a long-term commitment and motivation to support an important initiative with all the ups and downs of the process. 

Chandara Kan:
“We started our first training about volunteering. It brought to my attention to the question “Why-How-What” cycle related to effective volunteering. It was a great learning point to share about previous experienced and future plan on WHY I do volunteer, HOW is the strategy to do it, and WHAT exactly I plan to do.”

Assylaiym Yertayeva:
“During this tasks, we endeavoured to answer three important questions related to volunteering: Why? How? What?. While these 3 questions were simple, it made me realize how many whys one could have in order to start volunteering. The first question is indeed an inner drive and foundational corner stone that prolongs personal motivation of students to volunteer. I would even say that without exact answers to these core questions one’s volunteering initiative may last short term and wind up instantaneously. Most importantly, this strategy could be applied in virtually any aspect of life. I personally found it beneficial and it is not by mere coincidence that this technique lies at the heart of such a successful international company as Apple.” 

Lesson #2: Networking and mentorship are one of the key elements of self-development, not just when it comes to your career, but your everyday life

In this session, the volunteers moved to a new training on how to develop networking and mentoring skills, through interesting games and interactive methods. We can say that they got some instant ideas and tools how to develop themselves both professionally and as a mentor, for example some key take-aways regarding networking:

•    Know your exact goals. 
•    Prepare some questions in advance. 
•    Research about the leading characters. 
•    Do not restrict yourself in terms of communication. 
•    Take 3 important messages home. 6. Follow-up (share contacts) after the meeting in order to “nourish” your initial goal.

Chandara Kan:
“In short period of time, we surprisingly abled to gather lots of information about each other. Follow by new session on mentorship, it gives me an essence and new meaning on what mentorship is about.”

Assylaiym Yertayeva:
“During the second presentation, our mentor described 7 important steps for ameliorating our networking skills that she collected from different articles of “Economist”. They were presented graphically on the board in the form of drawings. Frankly, one of the steps remained embedded in my mind and it was about getting out of your comfort “sofa”. Not surprisingly, the picture used to represent this step, was a sofa. I remember Vanda mentioned that “we are not supposed to be sitting in our cozy sofa on the meetings dedicated to networking”. From my perspective, this is an absolute wisdom. We also discussed the most vital characteristics of a mentor and importance of knowing individual’s limits when mentoring.”

Study in Hungary session: what does living and studying in Hungary mean to you?

Finally, international students created two groups and discussed things that are associated with living and studying in Hungary. In addition, they shared their views on brochures and international fairs used for advertising higher education in Hungary. 

Kan Chandara:
“The last part of the program is to share personal experience relating to study in Hungary and I really like to talk how I falling in love in Hungary. 

Overall conclusions by our volunteers

Kan Chandara:
“After this event, I would like to say that me and my fellow volunteers as well as other Alumni Hungary Team., feel closer to each other with a great start relationship. We learn new aspect about volunteering and networking. We understand the objectives that Alumni Network is working on along with the opportunity. Overall, this training really motivated me to work together.”

Assylaiym Yertayeva:
“Overall, I found the day to be pleasant and enjoyable. My last Saturday was “fruitful” and interesting coupled with gaining valuable knowledge regarding volunteering and new friendships in the framework of International Alumni Network.”

Gerel Ganbold:
„I’ve learned that volunteering has purpose, and is a reasonable and meaningful activity.
I understood that volunteering is also about teaching and developing my personality and I can somehow influence the life of others and their future too. From now on, I have a greater motivation to be a responsible volunteer. Thank you so much!”

The article was based on the summaries of Assylaiym Yertayeva and Chandara Kan, who were active participants of the volunteer training. Thank you for their contributions!