Unforgettable Freshers’ Camp 2015!

On 11-13 September, Kaunas International Medical Students Union (KIMSU) organised its first ever ‘Freshers’ Camp’ in the lovely Guosta entertainment centre, which is surrounded by the amazing landscape of Lithuania. Joining hands with Lithuanian students from the project Kuratoriai who have organised such camps numerous times helped a lot in the planning and executing stages.

The wonderful team consisting of Gabriele Tvaskus, Debbie Studer, Andrea-Giulia Piercecchi, Yasmin Helal, Inesa Navickaitė, Erika Segalytė,  Abhiyaan Kapoor Malhotra, Benno Fiedler, Jurgita Kerpytė, Kamile Antanavičiūte, Eglė Valužytė, Uršulė Kalvaitytė, Eglė Bungaitė, Jinita Udani, Mobby Elizabeth Mathew, Greta Jakubaitytė, Julija Jakubavičiūtė, Rik Deemter, Joshua Jacob and Jevgenij Razgulin, LSMU psychologist for international students, had such a wonderful time organising and all the hard work was worth it.

The well-thought-out activities helped a lot with team building as most students by the end of the first day were more comfortable meeting and speaking to more people outside their friendship cliques.

The participants were divided into different teams and had to work together to win the prizes sponsored by ‘Kartlandas’,‘Žalias ratas’, Ninth Fort Museum, Seventh Fort Museum and Devils Museum. This opportunity instantly made people eager to win all the games, which included ‘catch-the-flag’, ‘follow-the-hand’, ‘scavenger-hunt’ and much more.

‘Each team received its own flag. Some of us even discovered new talents during painting the flag. At least that was a little reassurance, because if medicine doesn’t work out we can still be artists! Or athletes. On Saturday a sports tournament was scheduled, filled with team sports like soccer, basketball and volleyball. And sports weren’t done with this tournament, after lunch the organisers chased us around during scavenger hunt. It consisted not only of running the way to the camp up and down, but also involved solving some riddles as a team. Afterwards there was sauna, a bonfire and party. To sum up, the fresher’s camp wasn’t really restful, yet an amazing start to our studies. Studying it is a lot of hard work, the reason why you need friends to manage all the stress. The fresher’s camp was the perfect opportunity to find new ones or strengthen bonds formed during our first weeks. Hopefully bonds built during these two days will strengthen during our time in Kaunas and help us enjoying it!’ – Laura Hauke.

‘Gathering around the camp-fire site, singing songs, telling tales and star-gazing was the highlight for me’ – Sharon Trott.

‘Best camp I’ve ever been to and I have been to a lot’ – Abhiyaan Malhotra.

‘Better camps are yet to come’ – Mobby Mathew.

‘Not only did the fresher’s camp benefit our newcomers at university but also the seniors who had the chance to join the camp as we spent more time with each other and especially with Lithuanian students. For the future we hope to work much more with Lithuanian students together, so that we can narrow the existing gap between international and Lithuanian section at LSMU’ – Debbora Studer.