Strong, ambitious and decisive - 40 students become participants of the School of student activists "I am a legend!"
The action was built around the idea of the post-apocalyptic world, devoid of mutual understanding of cultures and peoples, full of technological and everyday difficulties and imperfections of the educational system. School participants had to come up with their ideas for restoring global balance.
The students were divided into 4 teams of 10 people, each of whom received a personal task:
- The Black team - to restore the friendship of nations and harmony in the world, lost in a brutal nuclear war,
- The Blue team - to solve the problem of settlement on the only suitable for this area territory - the RUDN University campus,
- The Orange team - to improve the education system in the current difficult conditions,
- The Green team - to create an information space meeting the needs of the student community.
After meeting with their supervisors, the teams began to develop their own projects with prominent experts helping them. Among them- a renowned project manager Nikolai Bandurin who shared his secrets with the students:
"What is necessary to create a project? Idea and team. The idea is the start of the project life cycle. The first two phases of the concept (3%) and planning (5%) are the most dangerous for the project creator - they will never be profitable, and at the same time need investments. This is followed by more extensive design phases (20%), implementation (60%) and completion (12%). For the project to be successful, each participant has to perform a specific task, all responsibilities must be evenly distributed, and communication between colleagues is to be horizontal, not vertical. ”
The expert advised the teams to always consider the project from the point of view of strengths and weaknesses, threats and opportunities, remember the best and worst case scenario and always be prepared for risks, as well as set specific deadlines for each stage of work.
“During the implementation of the project you should not completely deny the ideas of a colleague. If you do not agree with the proposal, put forward an alternative or compromise.”
Nikolay advised the participants not to forget to write down their ideas in phone notes or a notebook, and also use special applications to distribute work in the team.
At the end of the day, the teams presented their creative business numbers. Just before the performance, the tutors announced complicating conditions for each team. On stage, each team showed their interpretation of the post-apocalyptic theme.
The next day began with a quest with difficult riddles and tasks - after all, a student activist must be ready for everything! The horror game became the key to a good mood and helped students unite in teams.
Another trainer Olga Vasilyeva helped the students identify their intrapersonal needs as activists: why they need the school, and what kind of experience everyone can get in these two days. In addition, the students described the basic qualities of a member of the Student Council: responsibility, sense of humor, openness, ability to listen to others and a sense of duty.
All projects are limited by three factors: people, time, and budget. Before starting to develop a project, the main problem of the area covered by the work should be highlighted. To choose the right idea, you can use two types of work:
1) Brainstorming - all team members come up with ideas and choose the key one among them.
2) Method of Six Hats - applicable when you have identified the main problem of your project. The essence of the method lies in the successive change of hats of different colors to consider the idea from different angles: White - facts proving the need to create a project, Red - emotions that participants experience in the real situation, Yellow - advantages of the current situation, Black - disadvantages of the current situation, Green - ideas, questions raised, discussion time, Blue - summary of what was said.
For better structuring of your ideas and thoughts, the Mind map technique can help, the essence of which is to design thoughts using a graphical record in the form of a diagram.
After the end of the theoretical blocks, the teams started the implementation of their projects. The training took place in really extreme conditions because there were only 2 hours left.
Project defense is the most important part of the School of activists. In a short time, the students worked out the main points of the problem, from the concept of a solution to identifying partners.
The Big Bang team presented the “RUDN University Unity” project, aimed at cross-cultural immersion of students to unite university students of all nationalities in different directions - creativity, science, and sports.
The In fact team raised the issue of the grading system. The students talked about the difficulties that students face, for example, about the lack of a unified scoring system, which prevents the creation of a clear picture of student performance. The team proposed to study the issue to put forward a proposal going to create a common system for all subjects and courses.
The "Dwellers" proposed the project "Online resource of accommodation in the dormitories." to create a single informational online resource for hostels, where everyone will find the answer to their questions. Participants presented the layout of the website page with a detailed description of the structure and sections. The project will help reduce queues and facilitate the work of all accommodation departments.
“The program was so intense that for the first time in my life, I did not want to pick up my telephone. There are so many talented and active people! I am really glad that I was able to communicate with them and make new friends. We plan to promote our project to create a website for accommodation in dormitories. We hope that we will succeed. I want to say a huge thank you to all the organizers of this School, they gave me a great experience, knowledge, and skills. I had no idea what I was capable of until I was here. I would really like to repeat these two days! ”Anna Smolyanova, member of the Dwellers team.
Another idea was the RUDN University Navigator information board, which will facilitate the navigation of students and teachers in classrooms in different buildings of the university.
All participants got awards of the School of activists “I am a legend”.
“When you organize such a large-scale event for the first time, undoubtedly, you will be overwhelmed with anxiety and fears. Will all our plans succeed or all is in vain? According to the results of two days, I can say - it's not for nothing! 4 interesting projects created, a lot of ideas voiced to improve student life - all this done together, I am very satisfied with the result. This school is a new stage in the life of the Student Council. I am sure that the teams will realize their ideas and become real legends of the university! ”- Kirill Bogatyrev, Chairman of the Student Council of the RUDN University.
On a Sunday winter day at the exhibition named “Russia” RUDN University gathered students, partners, colleagues, and organized lectures under the title “We are different! We are equal! We are together!” The event took place in Pavilion 57 on the platform of the Russian Society “Znanie”. And on this day the hall was jam-packed.
The event was attended by more than 350 students from Russia, Bahrain, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The students organized an exhibition of the fraternity, introducing the guests to national dances, treating them to Algerian coffee, Arabic sweets and talked about the culture and history of the people of the country. The week ended with a futsal tournament.
On the eve of the New Year, we are summing up the past 365 days and set new goals for the next year. Whatever we do — study, work or do research — we intend to conquer even higher peaks.