Finding new friends, meeting people, engaging in discussions happens naturally at in-person events. Due to the pandemic, all in-person events and international meetups had been postponed or conducted online.
Therefore ICNM decided to invite the students to regular meetups, providing a safe and fun environment for exchange and networking.
CONNECT FOR IMPACT – Active8 Student Meetups
Until now, 2 Student meetups have been organized.
The first meetup took place beginning of Dec 2021 and was mainly used for a first get2know each other, sharing values, ideas, exchanging information about habits and sharing information about each other.
Josine Bakkes, a community builder from the Netherlands, living in Switzerland conducted the first webinar, creating a creative and open space for exchange.
After a first “Get2Know” each other, the student worked in break-out rooms, discussing important skills that are needed for a project like Active8 Planet.
Identified skills were creativity, leadership, teamwork, thinking outside the box, …
During the conversations in this first meetups the students suggested to focus in the next webinar on self-esteem.
The 2nd meetup took place mid of January 2022 and has been conducted by Pia Frizberg from WSA team.
We all experience moments of self-doubt and uncertainty. Even the most confident and happy people do sometimes.
The impact that low self-esteem and low self-worth can have on our mental health is huge. It is all the more important to cultivate a healthy and loving relationship with ourselves. How to do it?
The participating students of the Active-8 Planet program came together in the 2nd meetup to talk about self esteem, sharing personal experiences and insights.
The group discussed what self-esteem means to them and how they can cultivate a healthy sense of self-esteem.
It was concluded that not only fear can lead to a low self-esteem, but cultural conditions and circumstances as well as how we grow up are just as relevant.
The students also discussed that it is in our own hands to develop and raise self-confidence through different practices and attitudes, such as disputing the inner critics, setting realistic expectations, don’t overthink and rejecting perfectionism.
The peer-to-peer exchange amongst the students was a valuable session and provided first insights into the topic.
Some conclusions:
Just do it, even if it seems stupid.
Notice the small wins, which will fuel your motivation to continue.
Do your own strength analysis – this will boost your confidence.
