European University Sports Association (EUSA) with its Institute welcomed three international European Solidarity Corps (ESC) volunteers into the office, joining the team in Ljubljana for the period of 1 year and 1 volunteer for a short term period of 3 months. 

The EUSA staff is pleased to have been joined by Ms Marta Studzinska from Poland, Mr Emanuele Milanese from Italy, Ms Heloise Bargeot from France and Ms Jennifer Campbell from United Kingdom. These four young individuals will learn, assist and experience the daily EUSA activities in the EUSA Office and especially work and learn from the process of preparing and executing the European Universities Games in Debrecen-Miskolc 2024.

Here is a short introduction about our new volunteers:

Marta Studzinska

I’m Marta, I’m 28, and I come from Poland. I am still looking for my path in life, but what I can tell for sure is that since 2016, sports volunteering and sports events in general have been a big part of my life. I started as a volunteer during local sports events in Poznań, Poland, then became a volunteers’ leader responsible for groups of youngsters. These experiences let me get to know the background of such events, and thanks to that, I was able to meet a variety of people and make new friends. That all led me to the European Universities Games 2022 in Łódź where I worked in the Volunteer Department. This experience only assured me that I would love to develop my skills and competencies in the area of sports events. Besides that, I have gained some work experience in marketing & media departments and the international relations sector, which I’d also love to use and develop during my ESC adventure. I am happy to be joining EUSA and special thanks to my sending organisation One World Association (Stowarzyszenie Jeden Świat) for supporting my journey. 

In my free time, I love traveling and getting to know different cultures and people, as well as their languages. I am currently trying to learn Italian and Turkish, hopefully Slovenian will join that list soon. Aside from that, I like reading, dancing bachata, cooking and, what I discovered lately, crocheting. 

Emanuele Milanese

I just arrived in Ljubljana after a long trip, and I already feel like at home! I am Emanuele, 25 years old, from South Italy, and I have always been passionate about sports, so being at EUSA represents a great opportunity and a gift for me. I graduated in Economics and Management from the University of Salerno, and I am currently finishing my master’s degree in Social Innovation management, which makes me really interested in knowing more about the Non-profit sector, youth work, and volunteering. I like to stay active and healthy; I have practiced many sports, but I am also a musician and I like to learn new things.

I travelled abroad a lot during my university years, and I visited many countries, thanks to the Erasmus program, but I also took part in volunteering projects  and I have tried to be involved in the local life wherever I went. I like to discover other cultures and I became quite familiar with being surrounded by people from different countries and with different backgrounds, so I am happy to be part of such an international team. I hope I can contribute to the EUSA mission, and I am sure I will learn a lot and make great memories during this time in Ljubljana! I am also happy to have the support of my sending organisation CSS Forli-Cesena (Consorzio Solidarietà Sociale Forlì-Cesena) throughout my journey. 

Heloise Bargeot 

I’m Héloïse and I’m 23 years old. I have always been active in sports, particularly fencing in competitions. But I also enjoy doing sports just for the pleasure, like hiking in the mountains and to climb different summits, so I think Slovenia's mountains will a good place to me.

I have just finished my studies in sociology in France, so the social values are very important to me like the inclusion either for equality gender or disabled people for example.  However, I think the predominance value is the solidarity to me. This is why this mission makes all the sense to me. What could be better than to be able to put the solidarity to work for the sport! It could be paradoxical for some people because the sport can be associate with the competition, but for me it's not just that.

For example, during the Rugby World Cup, I loved seeing the communion between the South African and Tongan teams after the match. They formed a circle where each team mixed with the other, and it was, for me, a good illustration of the spirit of the sport. Or if I should give another more personal example, I remember when France won the world cup of football, everybody was on the streets dancing and singing together.  For me that is the greatness of sport, that it can gather many people into one celebration and one union.

For me, sport is not just about performance; it’s much more than that. It allows us to learn, discover other cultures, be open-minded, and learn about ourselves. So, I am very happy to be a part of EUSA and to be able to develop these values during my volunteering, representing also House of Europe in Yvelines (Maison de l'Europe des Yvelines), my sending organisation. 

Jennifer Campbell

Hello, my name is Jennifer. I am 23 years old and from Scotland. I recently graduated from the University of Glasgow completing my degree in Biomedical Engineering. For the past two years, I have worked in a Scottish Guest House based in the West End of Glasgow where I hosted people from different countries all over the world. 

All my life I have been involved in sport. I am a keen casual runner, yoga class attendee and my main team sport of interest is football. I enjoy all the positive and versatile benefits that sport has to offer such as the opportunity to relax and unwind, energise and recharge, and socialise.  I have been involved in football from a very young age starting with playing with the boys team at school when I was just 8 years old to now, at 23 years old, playing in the Scottish Women's Football Championship. 

I have also been involved in University Sport as the Treasurer and 1^st Team Captain of the Glasgow University Women’s Football Club, and have been an ambassador for ConcussEd who's mission is to raise concussion awareness for student athletes.  

My passion for sport and experiencing new things are two of the biggest reasons I chose to challenge myself by taking part in this 3 month volunteering placement with the European Solidarity Corps, as a representative of LEAP (Leap Sports Scotland). During my time in Ljubljana, I am excited to experience a new culture, be involved in the inner workings of EUSA and spend time with other different organisations learning about the impact of their projects. 

EUSA Institute is an accredited organisation with a Quality Label for the European Solidarity Corps (ESC), previously the European Commission's European Voluntary Service (EVS), financed by the European Union. In Slovenia, the programme is coordinated by the National Agency Movit. If you are a young person (18-30), check out the ESC volunteering opportunities which are available to you!