Members from JCI Cosmopolis attended the annual Region A kick-off event in Forssa, called the Forssa Start, on Saturday the 18th of January. The event program includes keynotes and various trainings. They also host a formal dinner in the evening. But perhaps the most important thing in the Forssa Start is the opportunity to meet new and old JCI friends from all around the region.
While chapter president Antti participated in the general assembly and Sofia, serving as the regional international affairs officer, performed her duties in the event, Cosmopolis trial members had the opportunity to listen to the keynotes and catch the trainings. Ewa and Telmo share their experiences below.
Telmo’s experiences
The language barrier, for us non-skilled in Finnish, was no disruption to feel the good mood among the participants and that shown in the presentations. Actually, it was a positive kick to learn. Thankfully we were supported by fellow members with the translations along the day.
From presenting JCI to the rookies, to listening to diverse presentations, the last talk of the day was the JCI Impact – on how be to an active citizen and how to sustainably support to solve problems in our communities.
The event provided me a glimpse to see the bonds between chapter members and how JCI itself supports to bring communities together within a country and throughout nations.
For us trial members, the morning was marked in our leg muscles by a warm-up to the tune of a song from Moby, Flower – squatting to “bring Sally up, bring Sally down”.
A good opportunity to read about who is Sally.
Ewa’s experiences
At the start training we learned how to present to other people in the business situations contact and learn about the JCI organization structure. It was great start to interact with others trial members of JCI chapters.
Afterwards we learned about the profiles of two Finnish companies, Vöner Oy and DA group. Later we deep dived into LinkedIn possibilities and connected with new JCI friends from other chapters. 🙂
At last training – JCI Impact we worked in groups of 4 and analyzed newspapers to work on our local communities’ problems. We learned that being active citizen starts from you/your neighbors/your friends.
In our group we discussed the problem of digital bullying in the Finnish schools between students. We also discussed the impact of the social media on the mental health of teenagers’ groups. We have found out that sometimes the simple solutions might work. We proposed implementing a rule that young kids are not allowed to use mobile phones in the schools, so they can’t use social media, focus more on the lessons, and really contact with others.
Last we had a great gala with the Japanese team. The group of trial members presented a short play in haiku style with all terms new JCI they learned during that day.
It was amazing day full of activities and making new friends from the A region. Looking forward to next events in 2020!
