When Adam Jurek, a Polish participant in the EUDEMOS Summer School in Brussels, looks back on his experience, the first thing that comes to mind is simple:
“It reminds me of a wonderful time I spent with my friends.”
But behind this immediate and heartfelt memory lies something much deeper — the essence of what EUDEMOS aims to achieve.
The Summer School was not just a study trip or a sightseeing opportunity; it was a human experience shaped by encounters, conversations, and the discovery of shared values across borders. Adam’s strongest impression was meeting other young Europeans, forming connections that continued well beyond the week in Brussels. These were not superficial exchanges but genuine friendships — the kind that only emerge when students live, learn, and reflect together in a truly international environment.
“The most important thing about the journey was meeting new friends from different parts of Europe. And I still keep in contact with them.”
This simple sentence reveals the true power of European initiatives: building bridges. Through shared moments in classrooms, workshops, and city streets, participants learned to appreciate each other’s backgrounds, perspectives, and ways of life. The multicultural setting allowed Adam to experience not only Belgian culture, but also fragments of every country represented by the students in the programme.
Learning, therefore, happened on two levels:
- Understanding Europe’s institutional and cultural landscape, and
- Experiencing what it means to be European — not in theory, but in everyday interactions.
What Adam wished, above all, was more time:
“If I could change anything about the excursion it would be the amount of time spent with such interesting people. I wish it had been longer.”
A wish that tells us something important: when young people discover Europe through real encounters, they want more. More dialogue, more opportunities, more Europe. And this is precisely the mission of EUDEMOS — nurturing a generation for whom European citizenship is not a distant concept, but a lived experience.
The Summer School in Brussels did not simply offer knowledge; it created a community. And for Adam, that community continues long after the journey ended.
Each time I am thinking about my summer trip to Brussels. It reminds me of a wonderful time I spent with my friends. But the most important thing about the journey was meeting new friends from different parts of Europe. That I still have contact with. Another thing that I really liked was learning about the culture of Belgium and all the countries which the participants were from. If I could change anything about the excursion it would be the amount of time spent with such interesting people. I wish it had been longer.
Adam Jurek
