In conversation with Raitis Pekuss
The first time I met Dana was at the Kurzeme Zemgale Regional Session 2014 where we both were organisers. At first, we did not get along well and we only stopped disliking each other after the Latgale Vidzeme Regional session which happened almost half of a year later. We finally clicked while we were waiting for foreign officials to come to the venues.
Dana and I have grown to become very good friends. We have probably even become too similar as we are sometimes found using the same nail polish or synchronizing our thoughts from time to time, which does becomes creepy. On the other hand, being so similar really helps when it comes to organising. We have a similar vision for the session, we acknowledge each other’s competences and we can rely on one another. I would not do it with anyone else. Nevertheless, organising a national conference was extremely hard even with such a good friend besides my shoulder. As we both have head organised sessions before, we have different approaches to how a session should be organised. Still it is healthy to have the arguments we have because they help us to get the best possible outcome afterwards. We learn from our fights, always. I really like our organising team as well. I guess I can say that we are like a small family in which I probably wear the pants. Dana is more considered to be the mother of the orga family because she is the nice one and she keeps the organisers happy. It has been a great journey. Even though I promised not to cry at the end, I know Dana is going to cry, therefore, I will most probably cry as well. I promised not to, but this is one of the promises I am not sure I can keep. If I went back in time and again talked with Dana about organising a session, I would say yes. If we are speaking about future, taking into account all of my future plans, most probably this is the last session I am head organising. Then again, I am not promising that because you can never promise something about the last times in EYP.
ganisers
The idea of head organising a session together came out of nowhere. We were having breakfast and I was telling her that I had figured to take a gap year. To that Dana responded with a suggestion that we should use our efficiently and co-organise the national selection conference. As at the moment nobody had applied to do that, we agreed to take upon this challenge.
ith The Head Or
A Conversation W
Sigita
Dana
In conversation with Alise Golovacka Sigita and I met when we were both on an organisers’ team for a Regional Session about 2 years ago and at first we did not get on, we were quite different back then. However, last summer, we were officials together at another session. Afterwards we met for coffee and talked for 6 hours straight; naturally, we became friends. So, we were having lunch together (although, for Sigita it was breakfast) and she told me about her plan to take a GAP year because she didn’t like what she was studying back then. I thought it was decent idea and we just chatted away amongst. After a while though, I suddenly presented the idea of Head-Organising nationals together. I mean, it was perfect, she had so much free time and we were both on the board of EYP Latvia. We started talking and immediately had a million ideas, it all seemed crazy. Sigita is definitely the one wearing the pants in our relationship. She can be strict and professional and knows how to deal with contracts and money. On the other hand, the organisers call me the mum of the orga family. I’m always checking if everyone is where they need to be, if they are safe, if they have eaten and slept. In an organisers' boot camp we went to the mall and I said ‘’Kids, let’s go to the ice cream section’’ and they all started screaming. Considering how cute they are, we think of them as our children. We’ve certainly influenced the organisers team to some extent. Sigita and I have noticed that the way we feel about some things has had a strong influence on them. They always back us up in our hate against people, even if they don’t know anything about the situation. We always tell our team that the strongest survive –considering all the dropouts at this session, and they are real survivors. Besides, we are having a lot of fun. I don’t think we are going to be best friends forever but they all laugh as hard as they work and work as hard as they laugh. I am 100 % sure that the General Assembly speech will kill me. We are going to tell our own personal stories and I think that this could be my last session for some time and there is no better way to end your active EYP career than this.