Memories from the "Balanced fux'o" camp

On September 6-7 and 13-14, more than half a hundred Vytautas Magnus University freshmen had the opportunity to spend an unforgettable weekend at the "Balanced Fux 2014" camp organized by the VDU Student Representation (hereinafter VDU SA). As promised, these weekends will remain in freshmen's memories for a long time.

The camp is a way to get to know each other and gain new experiences

Unlike the freshman camps of other universities, the organizers' goal was not to make fun of or humiliate the "freshmen". The weekends were intended to acquaint the newly "baked" students with university values, student life, provide an opportunity to communicate with upper-year students and get to know each other better, so that they could feel at home in the university corridors and see familiar faces reminding them of a meaningfully spent weekend.

From this year, the camp is also available for students with disabilities

What makes the camp unique is the fact that this year both the camp itself and the program are adapted as much as possible to the needs of disabled students, who study the most at this university (compared to other higher education institutions). "While trying to integrate students with disabilities, we had to think carefully about how to make the camp program as acceptable and diverse as possible, but at the same time not requiring a lot of physical capacity," Lina, vice president of VDU SA, shares her experience. Tried using various team and trust games and discussions. According to VDU SA member Martyn, who has visual and mobility disabilities: "This is a great opportunity to join the team, get to know future students and not only that, but the biggest plus is having fun." I am very happy with the Student Representative Office for taking this step and I hope that everything will continue to improve."

This innovation is a great challenge not only for the disabled or former members of VDU SA, but for all those who participated, because during the various activities groups discussed tolerance, willingly shared experiences and emphasized that we are all equal. For these reasons, if you meet a person with a disability at a university or in another environment, there will be no questions about how to behave. "It is important to explain that persons with disabilities are not exceptional, they need the same things as everyone else," says Justinas Petkus, president of VDU SA.

Balanced Fux became Hogwarts School of Magic this year

The entire camp program was based on motifs from the Harry Potter films. Starting with departure from platform 9 ¾ and arrival at Hogwarts. And what would the famous wizarding school be like without the college hat, Headmaster Dumbledore, spells, fortune-telling, transfiguration and other lessons that surrounded the entire simulation, which took place on Saturday afternoon. During it, the freshmen learned about the history of the university, how to recognize various plants, trust each other to build the strangest figures, work as a team to find assigned objects and perform other tasks. The simulation was crowned by the already popular Quidditch game of VDU SA, which caused the funnest emotions both for those who played and those who supported outside the pitch.

Also during the camp, the "freshmen" had the opportunity to communicate with VMU Rector Zigmus Lydeka, alumni of the Student Representation, Student Affairs Office, representatives of the Business and Practice Center, guests from the Lithuanian Student Union. Lectures for freshmen were led by VMU prof. Jonas Ruškus, representative of Lithuania at the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and Gintaras Steponavičius, former Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Lithuania, member of the Seimas and member of the Lithuanian Rifle Association.

Memories to last a lifetime

When you ask the freshmen about the weekend, they all smile in agreement. Everyone remembered the games in groups, the seniors' stories about the university and their personal experiences, the simulation, the evening performance of the members of the representative office and the songs by the campfire, which united all the participants of the camp. Everyone left with different experiences and knowledge. However, apart from all that, the "fuks" will remember the name "Laurentija" and the slogan "Sveiks tamsta!" for a long time, and they will be able to call the people they spent the weekend with as friends from now on.