iDealism

cover story:idealisminterview with teacherquestion box and poll

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Dear Reader,

This is the last editorial, as our session is slowly coming to an end and in just several hours you will be sitting in your train back home, think-ing was all of this actually worth my time? Well if you think you could have spent your time better chilling with your friends, read our article on how can eyp actually give you some experience and skills you won’t find that easy somewhere else.

In few hours you will know, if you got se-lected or not. In case you will be one fo the lucky ones to have a possibility to attend another ses-sion abroad, congratulations from us. But in case you were not that lucky, don’t be sad, we are open to everybody, speak to one of the organis-ers or representatives of eyp germany and they will surely help you and keep you involved in this amazing youth project.

And finally don’t miss our cover article on idealism, how we deal with it and what role idealism plays in eyp.

We hope you enjoyed our newspaper, that you will take it home with you as a memory and even if this is going to be the only session you will ever attend that you remember in 1, 2 maybe 5 years all the silly games and important discus-sions you had in Schwerin.

Zero days left, no regrets

Anar Kučera, Editor

iDealism

L a n d e s z e n t r a l efür p o l i t i s c h e B i l d u n g

Cover story: idealism - page 4Motivation - page 5Interview: Karin Urban - page 6-7Theater report- page 8Experience - page 10Questions - page 11Poll - page 12

content

Partners of the 21st National Selection Conference of EYP Germany

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iDealism

Congratulations!YouhavealmostmadeitthroughtheGeneralAssembly!Thushavingexperiencedasessionfromthebeginningtotheend,youmighthaverealizedthatthereissomekindofidealisminallofus.

Back in ancient Greece, notable and bearded men already used to ponder the ques-tion in the title. There had been a lot of disputes about the so-called chicken or the egg causality dilemma – there is even a nice Wikipedia article on it, feel free to check it out - but what’s im-portant: No one gave up their attitude. Similarly endless discussions about idealism can also be observed in today’s world. We can mainly find such beliefs among young people. Although it may not be fashionable to have an Aristoteles beard anymore, we seem to have a few philoso-phers who submitted the chicken or egg causal-ity dilemma! With increasing age there generally comes some kind of disappointment and their view on the world grows more critical. Some people are even proud to think that they are way more intelligent if they assume a scepti-cal, negative position and call it realism. Taken together, it is less complicated to point at the facts than to try and change them. If you keep standing up for your beliefs and try to preserve them all your life, you’ll be grateful for the fact that you have had something to live for, because

you didn’t waste your time. The United Nations were based on the

idealism of never facing a world war again. Hav-ing witnessed massive manslaughter and dev-astation, the thought behind the UN was full of optimism and the universal concept of peace. However, no ideology always has to have some positive idealism to it. Even though the creation of the UN was more than a good idea, there had been similar organisations established before, but they failed. It’s hard to realize and it takes a lot of work to support those idealistic views of the world. The same is for the European Youth Par-liament, where some people see it as an option of how to present their ideas to a broader audi-ence and possibly achieve something in their lives. Young people’s enthusiasm is intense be-fore they eventually encounter trials and tribula-tions. On the other hand, others might hold the opinion that EYP is merely immature “fooling around” with no actual meaning for the general public. The latter idea has something important in it, but EYP strongly supports the will to come up with good and creative ideas, which is essen-tial for mankind. Sometimes people need to be pushed, so they will bring the best out of them and not squander their potential. If everyone displayed a critical attitude, we would just be nodding to each other’s grouses all the time. Idealism is important in our life; after all, people will always disagree on this. Just like on the philosophical contestation of the chicken and the egg! Or wait, was it the egg and the chicken?

what came first? the chicken or the egg?

idealism

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iDealism

by Quynh-Anh Nguyen-Xuan and Hana Láníková

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by Benjamin Eisert

motivationiDealism

WhytorockGA?

You came with great expectations. You have felt awkward during the first teambuilding games. You managed to make your way through committee work. You presented and discussed your ideas and eventually formulated a resolu-tion that is being tested today. Regardless of your expectations being met or exceeded (the way it should be), the general assembly gives you, the delegates, the final chance to make this session unforgettable. So make up your mind and passionately express your opinion. EYP gives you the unique opportunity to do so and to stand up for your ideals. And as a bonus, even greater adventures are yet ahead of you. This National Session could be just the beginning of your EYP journey. Istanbul and Zagreb await you. It is go-ing to be legendary. Having been a delegate at International Session in Lillehammer, I can say, that an International Session is astonishing in all aspects, an experience one can never forget. I could have never imagined learning that much in such a short period of time. Equally impor-tant, I was and still am amazed by the incredible amount of fun and excitement such a session offers. EYP is much more than just a debat-ing competition. You will meet people from all around Europe, but all sharing the motivation and enthusiasm to move forward. You will be captivated by this inspiring surrounding of peo-ple - each of them striving to make the very best

of their abilities. This experience inspired me in so many fields and gave me an incredible boost of motivation. EYP is undoubtedly worth the sacrifice of true dedication and sleepless nights. Just see yourself, evaluate once you arrive back home. What did you experience? What could you learn? Did you make the most of your talents? Each session of the EYP gives everyone involved the chance to go to the limits of one’s capacities. The last three days, you’ve literally been working and playing hard. Hopefully, you have as I do, found the motivation and inspi-ration to set high aims and to achieve those aims, no matter how hard they might appear at first. Though, I have made the experience that this boost of motivation somehow loses effect after a certain EYP-free time, me becoming even more inefficient as I already am. As I can’t manage to attend too many sessions a year, I searched for more regular sources of motivation to work harder. One of them is homepage of my browser: ‘shutupandgettowork.com’ , offering nothing but constantly changing short memora-ble sayings/maxims, reminding me of my resolu-tions and what I wanted to achieve. Let EYP inspire you and in a few days, think about what you want to achieve very personally for yourself and how you work to-wards your aim. Until then, be the best delegate you can be! Or let me correct the quote of my homepage and „Go big before you go home!“

“go big or go home”

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by Stella Benfatto and Benjamin Eisert

iDealisminterview

an eyp veteran

WeinterviewedamemberofareallyimportantgroupofEYPers,thataresometimesratherinthebackgroundbutstillmorethanimportant:Theteachers.TheytoldyouaboutEYP,broughtyouhereandmadethispossibleforyou!

Karin UrbanDalberg Gymnasium from Aschaffenburg.

How did your EYP journey start? How does EYP work at your school? My school has been participating in EYP for more than ten years, and since 2002 I’m in charge of the model parliament class. We used to spend one hour per week on it, but recently it is getting harder and harder to find a spot in the students‘ timetables. Of course it takes lot more time to properly prepare for a session, which also makes us work on weekends. But prepar-ing for EYP is much different from my regular work as a teacher, and I thus enjoy working on a variety of challenging subjects along with my students.

Where did EYP take you until now? I personally had the possibility to attend around 7 National Selection Conferences. We even had the chance to participate in the Inter-national Session in Tromsø last year, though it was rather short due to the eruption of Eyjafjal-lajökull. It is always nice to meet some teachers again, at those sessions.

How did you personally benefit from EYP? I really benefit from each new EYP ex-perience! You always meet new open-minded people. In some aspects, EYP is similar for teach-

ers and delegates. The experience of an Interna-tional Session was truly extraordinary!

What was your funniest moment at EYP? At Tromsø, we teachers went on an excursion and chased reindeers. This is actually something I never could have imagined!

Have you noticed any change in your stu-dents‘ behavior or attitude after they had come back from an EYP session? Almost 99% of the students that I brought to EYP continued with it. And some of my former students are even in the officials‘ team at this session. Once the virus of EYP infects them, they can hardly let go. It’s really nice to see how students personally develop by making real friends all around Europe. Their par-ticipation raises their awareness on European issues.

What would you change about EYP? Definitely it would be even more interest-ing to have a greater attention by real politicians and institutions on the delegates’ resolutions, in other words to make the resolutions visible and accessible to the public, to have a greater im-pact.

How long do you want to continue with EYP? As long as there are students at my school who are willing and prepared to put in some efforts, I wouldn’t set any deadline!

At this occasion we would like to thank all the teachers who dedicate a lot of their free time to you! 7

interviewiDealism

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the stage is yours!by Zuzana Holakovská

iDealism

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by Karin-Liis Lahtmäe

iDealism

*test results may vary

I like EYP

I shower every day

YES

YES

I wake up before the wake-up call YES

NO

I wear smart casual clothing

NO

I wear normal clothes, duh

YES

NO

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

NO

NO

NO

NO

I like writing

DELEGATE

The sessions all evolve around your well-being and you enjoying yourself. In return, you are asked to produce the most innovative, creative resolution ever.

CHAIR

You are responsible for getting your committee to work well together, being their mentor in time of need, and teacher when there is a need for time to add finishing touches to the resolution.

JOURNALIST

You are to observe and report everything that happens during a session mainly for the entertainment of others and sometimes for your own amusement, as well.

I like reading

I like to speak

I shower once every 2-3 days

During GA I sleep

I sleep until late

YES

During GA I hold the placards

I would like to be a chair

I would like to be a delegate again

I would like to be a journalist

YES

NO

NO

I like being in charge

I like teambuilding

YES

YES

NO

YES NO

your future revealed

Ofcoursewearenotinterestedinyourweightgains,butwhatwereallywanttoknowishowmuchexperienceyougainedatthissession.Youmaydifferfromyourclassmatesalittleafteryoureturntoschoolormaybeyoualreadyhavebeendifferent.Sothequestionis:Doyoufeelthesameway?

1) Behavior and personal characteristics„I have become much more spontaneous and less shy by playing all those embarrassing silly games in front of everybody and I am not shy anymore when I meet new people.” (Katharina – IMCO) When being a teenager everyone experi-ences huge behavioral changes. Someone be-comes more shy or homesick, some may begin being mean. I can assure you, it is never too late to learn how to tolerate and respect others and keep and share your views as well. By learning how to laugh at yourself and take yourself less seriously you can ease up the atmosphere and help finding compromises.

2) Debate skills (rhetorical ability)“I learned how to have an argument and tol-erate others at the same time, I am definitely going to use this skills when I talk to my parent.“ (Jana – FEMM) I am sure every single one of you has at some point in your life experienced an argument

either with your relatives or somebody in your school. In order to be heard it

is necessary that both sides respect each other. As all of you still attend a high school, often you need to face tasks such as holding a presenta-tion in front of your classmates or delivering an oral exam. Those are great examples of situ-ations where you can surely use your better debate skills, you learned through the EYP.

3) Language skills„Even though, both me and my friend Katharina spent some time abroad we managed to im-prove our English a lot at this session.“ (Vanessa – IMCO) Most of you have neither English nor French as your mother tongue, and as only those two languages are official for any EYP ses-sion, it is more than essential for all delegates to be able to express themselves clearly in a foreign language. Of course nobody expects you to talk as if you were a native speaker, however I am sure it makes you happy and proud when you are able to have a fluent conversation with people from abroad.

Most of you couldn’t wait for this ses-sion to finally begin, and surely no one wants it to end. Sadly everything has its ending and not everybody can be selected to represent EYP Germany abroad. But the good thing is that it´s only up to you, dear delegates, what you your-self do with the possibilities given to you. Be-fore you leave Schwerin think what you already gained during the past five days.10

iDealism

how much have you gained during the session? by Zuzana Holakovská

experience

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questionsiDealism

Throughout the session we offered you a great possibility to ask questions or write us comments on anything that come to your mind. Now we opened the box and read through all of your contributions, lets just say it took us quite sometime, but here are the some of those we found in there.

EspeciallyfortheDanishDelegation:Theques-tionwas“yunospeakDanish?”

Here is my answer: Jeg taler ikke dansk her ved sessionen, fardi jeg kun er tilladt at snakke let aften timerne, det siger mar selv!

Whatwouldbetheperfectwayofkillingsome-one?

Try to kiss him or her on the neck!

Howdotheghostsreproduce?

Ask Dieter!

What does Dieter do during spare time?

Tries to sleep

DidtheDanishmaledelegateplayingawomanturnanyofyouon?

Someone as artistic as him is always turning the press team on!

SincetherearepeoplestillaskingwhoAnaris…

Well he’s the Asian looking guy, who’s editing the wonderful newspapers that you received!

WhatwasfirstthingtoappearonEarth:aneggorachicken?

We all know that there was a huge dinosaur egg from where a funky chicken hatched.

Whereismyunicorn?

Look into your closet!

WhyeveryonehatedJustinBiebersomuchattheimprovisationtheater?

Well, thats hard to answer as there are many different reasons different people may have, but one we know, all of them are quite jealous...

I would like to thank you, for all the weird, random challenging questions that have been asked! I’m really sorry if we haven’t been able to put all of them into the newspaper. How-ever, if you really need or want to get an answer to your special questions, you can approach the press team in person!

P.S: Yes, Benjamin (Journo) is indeed single at the moment.

secrets of the question boxby Stella Benfatto

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Doyourememberthosetwostressedoutjournossittingintheentrancehall???That’sus!

First of all, we want to apologize to those whose faces temporarily got lost in the chaos. You know who you are. And now to the important things! We have the results from the survey! Most of you put a lot of thoughts into filling out forms and we have to thank you for that. And after we processed all of the answers here we have the results! It was really fascinating to see how much you appreciated cooperation games as well as extremely demanding energizers. The first places in our poll were taken by the spider’s web and street fighter. Hadouken to that! We, the journos, are more than honoured you en-joyed the games we prepared for you with the organisers. Together we have done our best to make the session somewhat exceptional. As for the officials, our little survey showed that surprisingly both the most smiling and most inspiring official is Maria. Who would have thought that! She has positive energy all around her most of the time, lightening up every delegate’s day. Throughout the session, the persons you found most helpful and caring

were Benjamin and Ugis. Thank God they came to the session. However

if you need a laugh, just go and see Karin, be-cause she’s officially the funniest official around. That’s how Estonians rule! You agreed that Yann and Max (only we don’t know which one) de-serve to be called the masters of coolness. Also, our masterly know-it-all Dimitris managed to trick you into believing he is the smartest guy. And apparently, our lovely editor is doing his work professionally, because the overwhelming majority of delegates didn’t even know his face. The organizers did a really good job with picking the topics, most of you were quite satis-fied with the discussed issues. Even though you were not able to decide whether being at the session actually changed your views or not, a large number of you can’t wait until the next session. That makes us want to dance ecstati-cally, because it means we are going to meet you again! Thank you for the supportive feedback you gave us. You were truly inspiring. Thanks to you, we feel we’ve become better journos now!

poll

it’s all about you!

by Quynh-Anh Nguyen-Xuan

and Hana Láníková

WE WANT YOUR OPINION!!!!!

1. What was your favourite Teambuilding game? 2. Which of the informal activities did you like most? RegioVillage Welcome Party Photo Hunt Improtheatre Cultural Programme Bonfire/Cellar 3. Who was the . . . official?

most smiling ______________________________________ most helpful ______________________________________ funniest ______________________________________ coolest ______________________________________ most inspiring ______________________________________ smartest ______________________________________

4. Do you even know who Anar is? yes no kind of Is Anar male or female? other: ______________________________________ 5. Were you satisfied with your committee topic? definitely no I don’t know I don’t care other: ______________________________________ 6. How would you describe the session in one word? 7. Did EYP change your views on different issues? yes no I can’t tell yet I don’t know other: ______________________________________ 8. Could you imagine participating in EYP again? When is the next session? Er, no. maybe other: ______________________________________ With lots of love, your journos Hana and Quynh-Anh Please hand it back to us as soon as possible!

iDealism