Beginning on the 9th of May, we launched a ten-day series of events for our alumni across Europe. Thanks to the dedication of our alumni ambassadors we were able to hold events in Brussels, Helsinki, Warsaw, Paris, Berlin and Athens. Over 100 alumni attended the events in person, and many more engaged through our social media activity and photo competition.
None of this would have been possible without our ambassadors, so we would like to say a thank you to Scott McCulloch, Laura Sivula, Anna Laitinen, Jan Kocon, Dominik Sokolek, Tien Nguyen, Daniel Kuberczyk, Anthony Bouin, Jason Forbus, Aimilios Koronaios, Stavros Karampetsas and Konstantinos Korompelis! Thank you to Scott, Arthur Vincent, Katy Campbell, Daniel Wolk and Katherine Claude who also shared their stories through our alumni blog as part of our European celebrations!
Our journey began on Europe Day itself when our first event in the series was held at the British Embassy in Helsinki; our second event of the evening took place at our partner organisation, Scotland Europa, in Brussels. The evening in Helsinki began with an opening from the Deputy Head of Mission Richard Shackleton, while in Brussels introductions were provided by alumni Marija Ivoninaite and Helena Raulus. Our alumni in Warsaw participated in a Europe Day parade and proudly marched behind the University of Aberdeen banner. In Paris we sampled British-themed canapés at L’Entente, Le British Brasserie and in Berlin we joined alumni of other Scottish universities for a Scottish celebration at the British Embassy. To conclude the celebrations, our trio in Athens organised a social evening at a local café.
I was able to attend the events in Brussels, Paris and Berlin and being a fellow alumna of the University myself I was able to share my own memories of my time here. I too have suffered at the hands of a hungry seagull and enjoyed sitting on the lawn on a rare sunny day! Throughout my journey I met alumni from across Europe and further afield; I met those that graduated in the 50s and those that graduated only one year ago. I encountered several couples who had met during their time here, some during their very first weeks, and I even met one of our many alumni babies! In all our wonderful diversity, we are brought together by our connection to the University and all the people that I met reiterated the strength of their connection to both the University and Scotland.
I hope that our celebrations demonstrate that we too share and value this connection. Our alumni based in Europe will always remain a part of the Aberdeen family and the alumni community that we have created together will ensure that existing collaborations flourish and new partnerships evolve!
