PARO Newsletter #8 | English version
What it's like to be a LEO in pandemic? -- by by Maria Maria Paz Paz Bustamante Bustamante LEO LEO Zona Zona Centro, Centro, ANEQyF ANEQyF Chile. Chile. Exchange during quarantine? Is it possible to carry out a program such as PMI in the middle of the pandemic? After one year of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chile, through ANEQyF, the SEP program was inaugurated at the beginning of 2021, with a team made up of our SEO and 3 LEOs that has worked hard to promote this program throughout the national territory and carry out all the ideas created in these times as soon as the presence of activities can be resumed. I accepted this responsibility while in my third year of college, unable to attend both theoretical and practical classes, nor knowing if I am learning what I should for my professional future, but leaving my fears aside, I decided to apply to the position I do today, LEO downtown area. This experience has been totally enriching and rewarding, but I cannot overlook that it is a great responsibility to carry it out in the midst of a health crisis. I do not want to take this moment to talk about how much this situation has affected me, because I believe that we are all aware of the physical and psychological exhaustion, abrupt changes and aftermath that this pandemic is leaving us. Despite everything, I have managed to grow, accomplish and learn many things. The opportunity to be part of this team has been a strong motivation to resume my English studies, keep me busy and organized, leave my creativity free to innovate in projects that capture the attention of the student, improve my university performance and resume communication with part of my university world that had been affected by the situation.It has allowed me to open doors that I did not think I could deploy so quickly, expanding my professional network not only in my environment, but, allowing me to meet future colleagues from other parts of the world, which makes me think about what it will be like when all the plans that we are preparing with the PMI team can be carried out in person, I cannot wait! Among the first activities I did as LEO, it was to generate a comprehensive list of possible locations to offer in different practical fields for students who are interested in coming to our country. After this, we started working on our Instagram (@sepchile) generating advertising of our greatest riches and tourist attractions, in order to reach more people and gradually activate this program. Finally, we began to participate in the online PMI of which most countries with the active SEP program performed, both Spanish speakers and English speakers, where I had the responsibility to represent our country in presentations that were made in English. We maintain close contact and regular meetings with our team to generate new ideas and promotional tactics, creating an extensive network of contacts for future practical fields, decreating online meetings for both students in our country and foreigners who are interested in coming to Chile to hold a future internship. We generate a calendar of activities and schedules for future posts on our Instagram. We will promptly offer an online PMI, among many other future plans we maintain. 29
