EUniWell School Ambassadors participate in Semmelweis Health Competition
04/14/2023 | by Eszter Turopoli
EUniWell School Ambassadors joined the first dedicated in-person brainstorming session of the Programme and participated in the Semmelweis Health Competition in Budapest from 24-26 March.
EUniWell School Ambassadors from the Universities of Birmingham, Cologne, Florence, Murcia, as well as Nantes Université, Linnaeus University, and Semmelweis University joined the first in-person brainstorming session of the EUniWell School Ambassador Programme and participated in the Semmelweis Health Competition in Budapest from 24-26 March. The 3-day-long programme was designed to gain personal international experience on outreach activities and further develop our joint programmes.
As EUniWell aims to redefine universities as open space facilities accessible to a wider public, introducing local communities to know EUniWell and its member universities is key to our Alliance’s ambition.
The EUniWell School Ambassador Programme is designed to build a strong relationship with local schools to promote lifelong learning among young people. The Programme involves preferably (but not exclusively) first-generation university students from a wide variety of social and cultural backgrounds to provide authentic ambassadors of the partner universities and dignified role models in local communities and schools.
Gaining insights into local outreach activities
The target group of the EUniWell School Ambassador programme are students, mainly from secondary schools, who, for various reasons, such as social and economic difficulties experienced in different countries, have fewer opportunities. The overall objective is to promote European higher education in the EUniWell communities.
As a first part of the overall programme, some EUniWell School Ambassadors and staff members participated in an In-Class Information and Career Orientation event at a local vocational school in Budapest. Semmelweis Ambassadors gave a presentation on the university’s admission requirements, and different aspects of student life and shared their personal stories about how to find pathways to higher education. The secondary school students attending the event received first-hand information from students who are currently enrolled at Semmelweis University. At the end of the presentations, the local high school students had the opportunity to ask EUniWell representatives about international opportunities.
On the second day, the EUniWell School Ambassadors shared best practices about ongoing ambassador programmes and personal experiences within their local activities. They participated in a brainstorming session to get to know and figure out how to utilise the existing networks for a joint EUniWell scheme to raise the aspirations of young people and promote social diversity and equal opportunities.
Semmelweis Health Competition
Within the framework of the EUniWell School Ambassador Programme, Semmelweis University closely collaborates with the Budapest Medical Students’ Association (BMSA). BMSA is a non-governmental, non-profit medical student association organising health prevention classes and health competitions for high school students.
The main goal of the Semmelweis Health Competition is to improve the the generation of high school students’ level of health comprehension and preservation, as well as to communicate basic preventive measures and information in an interactive and enjoyable way. This academic year, more than 2,000 high school students from all over the country and across the border applied to participate in the competition. A two-day-long final took place at Semmelweis University on 25-26 March.
As a part of the EUniWell School Ambassador Programme, EUniWell students and staff members were invited to participate in the final of the Semmelweis Health Competition and introduce the EUniWell member universities to more than 200 Hungarian high-school students in a playful way. The EUniWell Ambassadors co-created an interactive game to encourage high-school students to find out fun facts about the EUniWell member universities and their well-being facilities, such as the following:
- Medic’s Cup at Semmelweis University:
Every year medical students gather from the whole country to compete in many sports. Semmelweis University hosted the 50th Medic’s Cup, which took place between 31 March and 2 April 2023. Hundreds of medical students from four universities participated in the three-day event competing in five sports. - Fika and lunchtime meditation at Linnaeus University:
In Sweden „fika” means coffee break and it is a regular meeting opportunity with other students and staff members. At the University, the Student Health Services also offer lunchtime meditations as a way of recharging students’ minds and bodies. - Sophrologie at Nantes Université:
There are breathing exercises available to manage students’ stress at Nantes Université. - Petanque championships at the University of Murcia:
The University of Murcia organises regular petanque tournaments. - Many sheep around one of the departments of the University of Florence:
The University of Florence has a lot of sheep all around one of the Departments outside the city. - Bicycle parking facility at the University of Cologne:
There is an underground bicycle parking for all students and teachers to park their bikes. - The largest public library at the University of Birmingham:
The University has the largest public library in Europe.
The interactivity level and active participation in the Semmelweis Health Competition provided the participating EUniWell students with the opportunity to design and carry out personal experiments on how to promote European higher education across EUniWell communities.
Benefits of becoming a EUniWell School Ambassador
The School Ambassadors:
- provide disadvantaged high school students the confidence to plan their future,
- become role models for many children,
- play a key role in the design process of international project development,
- participate in online and in-person international programmes and initiatives delivered jointly across EUniWell member universities,
- collaborate with other students across Europe which also provides valuable connections as well as opportunities to gain international experience,
- participate in EUniWell events.
Testimonials
“Wonderfully hosted by our friends from Budapest, it was such a pleasure to meet so many nice people from all over Europe. It was a great and truly inspiring time in Budapest, for which I am very grateful!” - Maximilian Pukies from the University of Cologne
“I really enjoyed the meeting, especially because I got to meet different people from different universities, network and share our experiences and ideas as university students. It was also exciting to hear what type of work other universities are doing and come up with new ideas for my own ambassador work and EUniwell!” - Iina Lahti from Linnaeus University
“I think being on the EUniWell School Ambassador team is an amazing experience, it allows you to work with people from all backgrounds on topics that truly matter.” - Flóra Oláh from Semmelweis University
Further information
Contact
- Eszter Turopoli: turopoli.eszter[at]semmelweis.hu
