IFFEurope: So you didn't come for nothing.

It's off to a year at IFFEurope

This week, IFF Europe students started the new school year. Spotlight on those from DU OPEN (Orientation Project Engagement) who have now officially started their training.

Gathered in the Roger Schütz room, the new OPEN students were invited to introduce themselves to the others, to tell them why they came to this unique DU in France, and to talk about their professional dream(s) or their passions and the subjects they care about. It is a difficult exercise for some people who are not used to speaking in public. But in the end, touching and engaging testimonies.

A majority said they came to IFF Europe and joined DU OPEN to ‘ gain confidence’ or ‘ gain trust’ or ‘ find a purpose’ or ‘ choose a direction’. One said they were there ‘ to get out’, another ‘ to assert themselves’, and a third to ‘ improve relationships and understand how others work’. A fourth explained they joined OPEN to ‘ learn about themselves’. Elsewhere, another student spoke of her need to ‘regain self-esteem’ while another spoke of ‘ rekindling the flame’ in her life.

Other testimonies concerned the desire to " find happiness and be happy ", to " discover oneself ", to " have unique encounters ", to "refocus on oneself ", to " learn to know oneself better".

" So you didn't come for nothing!" reassured Agnès Teynié, the school's director. Quoting François Prouteau, former director of the school, now president of the Fondacio movement, Agnès Teynié showed the new DU OPEN students that "real training is not a filler but a transformation". " You will see that at the end of the year," continued the director, "you will no longer see the world in the same way as before."

Each student was thus invited to let themselves be transformed in order to transform the world and improve it.
Everyone knows why they are there: they just need to take full advantage of the year to become " actors in their lives" and " actors in the world to be transformed ".