Alumni Weekend

Alumni Weekend at 16th EPSA Autumn Assembly

During each EPSA Annual Congress and Autumn Assembly, the Alumni Weekend simultaneously takes place, joining together people who have been an active part of EPSA in the past years and now wish to see old friends and reconnect with the spirit of EPSA that keeps burning inside them. The recent Alumni Weekend took place in Poreč, Croatia between the 31st of October and 3rd of November 2019.

We had the pleasure to host seven Alumni, two of whom even attended the Pre-Congress Tour, from three different countries and various professional fields. Throughout the days we all enjoyed an Alumni Dinner, adventurous outdoor activities, rich wine tasting and social programme of the 16th EPSA Autumn Assembly, but let’s hear more from a first-time Alumni Weekend attendee, Laura!

Nejc Klopčič Alumni Coordinator 2019/2020

After my discharge from the EPSA Team in April, I grabbed the first possible opportunity to join the EPSA Dinosaur

Club (aka the Alumni Group) in Poreč during the 16th Autumn Assembly. It wasn’t your typical Alumni Weekend I guess, because the most famous dinosaurs decided not to travel to the far-away land of Poreč. A new species joined though, in the form of two Italian Alumni, who could tell us stories about EPSA from long, long ago.

Viktor, the Alumni Officer of the RC, had the honourable task of managing two Slovenians, two Italians, three Dutchies, and Nejc the Alumni Coordinator through the programme that started with the Alumni Meeting on Thursday Evening. We enjoyed some beers in the hotel lobby whilst being informed of the programme of the weekend and the Alumni Project in general. After dinner, which in my humble opinion must be one of the best ‘regular’ dinners during EPSA Events ever, it was time for International Night (IN). To my greatest pleasure, the Italians brought prosecco, and the huge German delegation (hats off to BPhD for gathering so many new recruits!) must’ve had about 3 kilos of gummy bears. Obviously a 10/10 success!

On Friday we went to an Adrenaline Park. Without the Slovenians, who apparently overplayed their hand during IN and couldn’t handle the thought of an adrenaline park and stayed behind in the hotel. At the park, the owner, who’s mental health I questioned a couple of times that day, in one breath offered us shots and explained that we’d all start the afternoon in “The Catapult”. Now this sounds like a terrible idea when you’re hungover, but actually it was quite fun and sure got our adrenaline going! Afterwards, there was some tree-top fun with ziplines that might slightly exceed the speed limits for ziplines, but sure. After a quick change of clothes, we went to Alumni Dinner. We had great food, a fair amount of pink sparkly wine because everyone felt really in-sync with their femininity, and lovely company in a gorgeous location! The night ended with a questionable car-ride to the club, where we enjoyed the afterparty of Croatian Night.

On Saturday we had a wine tasting to attend, and the host enthusiastically told us all these amazing facts about his wines, the vineyard, and the country (I suppose. It was all in Croatian) and provided us with snacks and a complimentary rakija at the end. The gala night traditionally closes off the programme. The food at the hotel was really great, but for gala night the Alumni would’ve enjoyed a seated dinner instead of a buffet. Unfortunately, we found no-one willing to pay Nejc to serve our food, so we had to go grab it ourselves. What I remember best from the gala itself is that multiple people had decided that buying a bottle of wine for yourself is nice and efficient. Being Dutch means that I love this efficient thinking, so I did the same.