On a date with a candidate (XII): Natascha Jürgens

Soon the Agora Salerno stage will be full of candidates who want your vote! For sure you have read all about their programmes in the official booklet, so now you want to find out more about them, their hobbies, whether they can cook and which AEGEE member they would take with them on a deserted island. In short: classic first date questions from the Internet! The GT will take you on a date with the candidates. In this edition: Natascha Jürgens from AEGEE-Passau, running again for for Member of Mediation Commission. Get ready, your date is starting now!

Golden Times: Are you afraid of your candidature speech on the Agora stage? And how will you prepare for it?
Natascha Jürgens: After already presenting myself once at the last Agora, I am less nervous now but I think when the actual moment will come, my hands will shake anyway.

GT: Where would you be now if you hadn’t joined AEGEE?
Natascha: Maybe I would have finished my studies by now! Who knows?!

GT: How did you join AEGEE exactly? How did you find out about it?
Natascha: I learnt about it in my orientation week of university, went to an information evening and joined the same day.

GT: How long did it take you from the first moment you heard about it until you signed the membership form and joined AEGEE?
Natascha: Less than an hour.

GT: What’s the typical drink and food you bring to European Nights?
Natascha: Jägermeister and Lebkuchen.

GT: At an AEGEE party where will we find you? On the dancefloor? Talking at the bar?
Natascha: Most likely on the dancefloor since I absolutely love dancing and you can’t talk well with loud music anyway but if I don’t like the music I might be somewhere else as well.

GT: What was your first Agora and how did you feel there? Happy, excited, overwhelmed, lost?
Natascha: My first Agora was Agora Enschede, the procedures may have confused me a bit at the time but overall I was really happy to meet many of my friends again. Also, I already knew I was accepted to my first SU, Transsiberian Dream, and we had a meeting to get to know each other, it made me look forward to the event even more.

GT: There is a classic typology of AEGEE members, dividing them according to the three aspects fun member, career member and idealist – to which percentage are you which of these aspects?
Natascha: In my opinion fun and idealism can’t be separated. If you do something that is important for you and seems right it will make you feel good and be fun, so I cannot say that I am more of one than the other. About career, I haven’t thought of it yet.

GT: What do your parents think about the idea that you are so active in AEGEE?
Natascha: My mother says she would have sold her soul to be part of an organisation like AEGEE when she was younger but it would be nice if I could finish my studies sometime.

GT: What other hobbies do you have aside from AEGEE?
Natascha: Travelling and dreaming of travelling. Also dancing and meeting people.

GT: What are some obscure things that you are or were really into?
Natascha: When I was 14 I watched “Pirates of the Caribbean” for the first time and decided that I also would like to be a pirate. For a year or so I was also dressing as pirate-like as possible.

GT: What’s your favourite app on your phone?
Natascha: I like Instagram because it helps you to somehow stay updated about the lives of the people you meet, even when you don’t have time to text a lot and also you can find interesting inspiration for travels there.

GT: What nickname do or did you have – and why?
Natascha: I never really had a nickname, neither do I want one. However, my name does have a story: My mother liked the book „War and Peace“ from Tolstoj a lot and decided to name me after the main character.

GT: Do you like cooking and if yes – what’s your favourite dish you like to cook?
Natascha: I am so untalented at cooking and do it so rarely that my friends constantly mock me for it. The first year of living in Passau I didn’t even have salt. When I was hosting an Italian he was in deep despair because he wanted to cook something but couldn’t find anything he needed in my kitchen.

GT: What’s never missing in your fridge?
Natascha: It’s almost always empty because I’m rarely at home.

GT: What do you study – and why?
Natascha: I study International Cultural and Business Studies due to my love to learn about other cultures and languages.

GT: What’s your dream job?
Natascha: Something that can be done while travelling and will bring enough money to keep travelling. At the same time, I would like to be working with people, cultures and languages.

GT: What’s the favourite city or place on this planet you ever visited?
Natascha: My favourite city in the world is clearly Moscow, my favourite place is impossible to decide on since I have seen so many beautiful natural wonders. One that comes to mind is Abisko in northern Sweden, it’s a national park which I visited this September. I was almost the only one there which made the experience really magical. I even saw some reindeers walking through the forest! Another one is the delta next to İzmir.

GT: And where would you really like to go?
Natascha: This is hard to answer since I would like to go almost everywhere. Kamchatka in Russia is one place that I am especially interested in.

GT: This Agora is about walls – what was the most difficult wall you had to overcome?
Natascha: I wanted to become a doctor for a long time and was learning a lot in high school to get the grades I needed for it. In the end, I was the third best in my year and still, it was not possible to get a place at university to study medicine without waiting many years – while not being allowed to study anything else. In the end, I decided to study something else instead.

GT: What’s your biggest frustration in AEGEE?
Natascha: Having to say goodbye after events end too quickly.

GT: Please complete the sentence: “AEGEE is for me…”
Natascha: …like a cup of tea for an East-Frisian girl: feeling at home with my family and a taste of exotic countries.

GT: How would you describe yourself in a few keywords?
Natascha: Curious, positive-thinking, adventurous.