For us, Slovenians, the meeting started on
Sunday. After a ride from Slovenia to Treviso, Italy we took a plane to
Barcelona. With our spirits high, we arrived later in the afternoon meeting our
hosts at the enormous airport of Barcelona. That day, we just settled in our newfound
homes and went out for a dinner with some other students from the exchange and
we experienced our first long, sandwich full Spanish dinner.
Pictured: Working with the 6 Thinking hats techinque
The next day however, our work started. After a
brief introduction about that week's plan, we also got the chance to get to
know each other. The work started in groups made up of students of different
nationalities. We talked about what it takes to be an entrepreneur and what
skills matter. After some brainstorming, we hopped on the metro to CaixaLab.
This is an organisation where we were presented with a guided tour of some
important Spanish entrepreneurs, creative thinking and thinking outside of the
box. We had a lot of interactive "games" where we tried to solve a
problem in a, if possible, the most creative way. We saw how some everyday
product is a really simple solution to a (an obvious) problem. We also had our
first glimpse of a business plan and did some work with that.
Over the course of the following days, we
started working in our groups more intensively. We all wrote down our problems
and possible solutions to them. With a method called 6 Thinking Hats, we found
out which problem and solution could potentially be the best to try and solve.
After we all agreed on one, we went to work. We perfected the idea and assigned
roles to work towards it. Each did his part and we all helped each other if
needed. With our business plan complete we also made a presentation and
presented our project to others at the end of the week. I can safely say that
all the groups completed their projects, but ours was definitely top notch!
So to draw the line, for entrepreneurship the
most important skill to have is creative thinking. But you also need to be hard
working, patient and ready to meet different people who you will need to help
your idea become a reality. I think that this project really taught me how to
work better as a group and to be ready to listen do different inputs and work
them into what you do. Sometimes a group's vision really helps you to make
something better for a majority in case you are limited by your vision.
And now to draw the line for the social aspect
of the meet. In the afternoons, after the work was over our Spanish friends
usually took us for a walk around the city. We saw many monuments of Barcelona
and tasted some Catalonian and Spanish cuisine. We took part in many different
activities. The week was fun for everybody as we met many people and made
friendships and the most important thing to take away from the week is the
experience. Experiencing the city, the culture and the people. I think all the
students will hold this week in good memory.
Janez Vončina
