“Young recruit’s course”: when first-year students become a team

Student life does not begin with the first class or even the first set of lecture notes. It begins with new acquaintances, smiles, a little nervousness, and that special feeling when you do not yet know what lies ahead, but already realize that something exciting is coming.

It was with the aim of making the first steps of first-year students more confident, enjoyable, and certainly less lonely that the Student Council of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Special Education organized a get-to-know-you event called the “Young Recruit’s Course.”

The first part of the meeting was devoted to introducing the first-year students to the Student Council and its activities. They learned that student life is about much more than classes, seminars, and exams. It is also about creative and intellectual projects, volunteer initiatives, exciting events, new friendships, and the opportunity not simply to observe faculty life, but to become part of it and help shape it themselves.

And then the real “course” began!

The first-year students had a chance to test their wit, attentiveness, quick reactions, and creativity. Yet the greatest challenge was not the difficulty of the tasks themselves, but the need to work together. After all, student life is not only about what you know and what you can do; it is also about how easily you can connect with the people around you.

A wonderful way to conclude the event was the presentation of certificates to the participants of the “Young Recruit’s Course.” For some, it was simply a certificate; for others, it became a small symbol of a significant beginning — their first shared event, their first student friendships, and the opening page of their own story at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Special Education.

But the “course” did not end there. The organizers invited first-year students to join the Student Council — not only to attend events that have already been organized, but also to suggest their own ideas, create content, help organize events, and contribute to communication and volunteer initiatives.

So, new projects, events, friendships, challenges, and victories are waiting ahead. Perhaps among them will be ideas that transform the faculty, or stories that will be remembered and retold for many years to come.

The “Young Recruit’s Course” was only the first step.

What comes next is an entire student journey, one that each first-year student will write together with others. May it be filled with bold ideas, genuine people, unforgettable events, and moments that one day will make them smile and say: “Remember how it all began?..”

Olesia Holubtsova – Information Sector,
Student Council of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Special Education