BENEDIKT BAECKER

1. Can you please introduce yourself (who are you, where are you from, what do you study)?

My name is Benedikt, I am originally from Germany and I work as an Influencer Marketing Analyst at InfluencerDB - a vibrant startup in Münster. From September 2015 - August 2017 I lived and studied in Odense. At the University of Southern Denmark I chose to study Marketing, Globalization and Culture - an excellent study programme to explore marketing from a cultural perspective.

2. How long have you been a member of ESN and what were your roles before becoming active in the international world of ESN?

I am a member of ESN since September 2015. I started as an Active Member, just to continue as Communication Manager and Local President of ESN Odense.

3. What is your position within ICE and how long have you been doing it?

I just joined ICE as an in-training member in Winter 2017. As I couldn't decide which team I wanted to join, I chose two teams. Now, I am part of the awesome teams of Youth Rights and Section Empowerment.

4. Can you describe your main tasks and responsibilities?

As an in-training member I have basically the same rights and duties as regular team members. Together with a team leader we are working on realizing a variety of tasks. In our case, we are focusing on how to spread information among all European sections and how to communicate the importance of youth rights. We want all ESN sections to be active advocates for youth rights and as role models for the General Policies of ESN International, given that they are the core of our work in all countries - this is what unites us in diversity.

5. Can you describe some other interesting tasks on which ICE is working on?

Has anyone of you read the entire General Policies of ESN International? Have you ever thought about what ESN is actually doing when it comes to youth rights? Don't worry, we work on provide you short and easy to understand documents to make sure that we become all experts. Instead of 28 pages of general policies we keep it simple and show you the essence to remember :). Also we plan to have a unique online campaign that promotes youth rights, but I cannot tell you any details yet.

6. What was your most valuable experience connected to being in ICE so far?

I haven't had so many experiences yet but maybe it's just the general setting. Imagine being in front of your computer and working in a team that is literally spread all over Europe - Spain, Germany, Belgium, Poland, Russia & Azerbaijan in one team call. Do you see how awesome that is?

7. What were the most challenging tasks that you had to deal with?

Keeping texts as short and easy to understand as possible is really challenging. It takes surely more time than just writing longer statements haha.

8. Have you attended any international events related to ICE? If so, which ones and what was the best about them?

The ICE Winter meeting will be my first project related international event, but I attended the #ErasmusUpgrade Conference in Brussels. It was incredible to see how motivated ESNers from all over Europe come together and work on developing a manifesto that clearly states ESN's perspective on international education. When we met important European decision-makers, I realized that we can actually achieve a lot when we work all together and do not always discuss about our differences. Embracing differences and using the synergies of our similarities makes us true winners and very strong partners in all regards.

9. What is your message for people who can’t decide whether to join ICE or not?

If you want to truly shape the face of ESN and make sure to leave your mark on the development of European education, you should not even struggle with your decision anymore. Come and join us and be part of the nICEst committee :).