Inglese

You have certainly read about some members of the Board but now it is time to meet the Treasurer and Communication Manager of ESN Italy, namely Alex Bertoldi and Lele Barranca through an almost serious double interview, between tales of ESN life and mothers "of those of Erasmus..."

 

Introduce yourselves briefly

Lele: I am Lele, Communication Manager of ESN Italy since December. I studied Languages and Cultures for Tourism as a bachelor's degree, I graduated at the end of 2021 and I went on my first Erasmus in Valencia for ten months and now I am doing my second Erasmus in Brussels for my master's degree in Communication, ICT and Media. I joined ESN in October 2018 after a three-month internship project in Gran Canaria where I met the guys from ESN Thessaloniki, and then when I got back I became an ESN member the week before I started university. In my free time, I like reading a lot, I have always read a lot, I have done swimming and I like going for a run. I really like Marvel movies.

Alex: I am Alex, incoming Treasurer from December and then from March with signing authority. Now I am attending the master's degree in Business Administration in Padua, before I attended the bachelor's degree in Economics in Padua too. I went on Erasmus in Lisbon and I met ESN in Seville during the sabbatical year between high school and university, when I went to work in a hotel for three months and that's where I decided that I would have started university in order to do an Erasmus. Now, instead, I have been taken for doing Erasmus in Zagreb but I refused. For years, I played football and I also tried the American one. I've never read that much, but I'd like to read some "healthy paper" since I spend most of the time in front of a screen. I don't usually watch movies because I fall asleep before the end, but in my spare time I control the ESNcards.

 

Describe your role as Treasurer and as Communication Manager and the reasons that led you to choose it

Alex: The Treasurer is the one who has to control all the income and expenses and the economic situation of the association. This role coordinates a little bit the Partnership Manager and the ESNcard Manager in their work. 
The reasons that drove me…well, it can be included in the curriculum. Ah, no. You can't say so, okay! 
Actually, because this is the role that is more related to my course of studies and above all I usually deal with numbers and not with letters. In fact, I don't like writing, I've always been hopeless at it, at least with numbers I am not.

Lele: Instead, the role of Communication Manager is the most creative of all. As Communication Manager I deal with all the internal and external communication of ESN Italy, so everything that is related to the website, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook... I also take care of the creation of ESN Italy's merchandising, and therefore also on the occasion of national events, the entire communication passes through the Communication Manager. He is also the contact person for not one, not two, but three Committees! The two main ones are the CommIT for the part of the website, the websites of the individual Sections and the Wiki, and the ComCom for all Communication material, and also the FiCo with regard to the partners and the sponsorship of the same. For the same reason, the Communication Manager is also the contact person for the national Partnership Manager and the national ESNcard Manager. In addition, there's the fantastic Press Officer who's another Board Supporter who relies on me. 
I chose this role because it is the most creative of all, and in fact, I am very creative in what I do, so I always thought that the role of Communication Manager was the best role to express my creativity. It is also the one that is more related to my course of study. 

 

Three general features you think a National Board Member should have

Lele: patience, empathy and diplomacy

Alex: masochistic, a bit of a sycophant (more than sycophant you must know how to sell yourself), and enterprising. 

 

Did your mother and father understand what ESN is and what you do in ESN?

Alex: All they know is that I travel and I don't go to the University for this. 

Lele: my parents did not understand it very well, they know that I travel too, that I always have so much to do and I make many calls, but every time my mom says: "what are you doing tonight? Ah, that Erasmus stuff!”

 

Who is your favourite Disney Princess? Provide reasons for your answer

Lele: Merida of “Brave”. Because she's the only one who never needed someone to come and save her, but she did it all by herself and she is the one who saves the others.

Alex: Snow White. Because it's the only one I know, and because I know all the Seven Dwarves' booklets by heart. 



 

Translation by Elisa Contarino