Connecting science, awesome people and awesome places
Mykyta Osadchyi (he/him), a bachelor student from the University of Maria Curie-Skłodowska in Lublin, Poland, shares with us his experience from SymBioSE 2022 in Germany.
🌻There are 3 things in life which I love the most. Science, awesome people, and awesome places.
I didn't know it was possible to bring them all together in such an intricate symphony. SymBioSE is exactly that. It's like the 8th wonder of the world.
🥐SymBioSE is a pretty odd word, right. But it has gained so much meaning for me in the past week.
SymBioSE is when you can talk with a Georgian guy about khachapuri, then learn from a French girl how to properly pronounce "croissant", and then butcher the Irish accent, right in front of an Irishman. All in a matter of HOURS... or minutes if you're particularly sociable.
SymBioSE also helped me discover myself and my interests more. Numerous presentations, workshops and nighttime hiking conversations with more experienced people (and beer), definitely eliminated some uncertainty and gave me confidence in what I want to do in life. It gave me hope, and most importantly - determination.
🔮At the end of SymBioSE we did the magic envelopes. I opened my envelope into which people have written things they want to say to me. Anonymously. "Magic" is not an exaggeration, as the feelings those tiny pieces of paper made me feel can only be compared to that. I could not bare the niceness of what people wrote me, it ripped me open. I love you all ❤️
SymBioSE is technically a symposium but it felt more like a summer school camp trip, but with awesome people, and even more awesome organizers, who made this miracle possible.
🖤Actually, SymBioSE is not just about science, people and places. It's about something much more valuable and rare in this world. It's about creating an ephemeral space, a community, where heartwarming friendliness, awe-inspiring curiosity, and summertime joy can thrive and spread like a virus, infecting everyone who's there.
After getting this virus , I will never be the same. Unfortunately as I'm writing this, the SymBioSE virus is slowly leaving my system.
I almost can't believe this wasn't just a wonderful dream. I don't want to wake up, but unfortunately I am. I'm getting ripped away from it, and it kinda hurts.
But I am looking forward to this dream next year...