ESN URJC History
20 years ago, Carlos, an Audiovisual Communication student at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, went on Erasmus to Finland with the goal of learning, making friends, and discovering the still unfamiliar Finnish culture.
What Carlos did not expect was that, from the moment Carlos set foot in the airport, a group of students from Erasmus Student Network Finland would already be there with open arms to make life easier and help make the most of that first international experience.
After a few incredible months in the land of the northern lights, Carlos returned to Spain with the need to give back everything that had been received and to help other international students coming to study in Madrid. To do so, Carlos convinced two of their closest classmates to help do the same at our university.
FRIENDS HELPING FRIENDS
On October 28, 2004, Carlos, Guillermo, and Enrique created Exchange Student Network Rey Juan Carlos, an association inspired by the buddy system: students who use their free time to help other international students who, like them, have to adapt to university life, with the added challenge of adapting to a new city.
Honouring the Erasmus Student Network motto #StudentsHelpingStudents, which they did not yet know at the time, the three friends gradually found their place within the university and convinced more and more people to join them.
It was in the spring of 2005 when Carlos received a call from the person who was then the president of Erasmus Student Network Spain, encouraging Carlos to turn that friends’ project into an Erasmus Student Network section. Driven by the same spirit experienced during Erasmus, Carlos took the leap, and soon ESN Universidad Rey Juan Carlos became a section of ESN Spain and part of the international network.
Finally, already as ESN URJC, that same summer the association was recognised as an official association of Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, and they were able to begin their work formally, endorsed by the URJC International Relations office.
All this time has helped us realise that ESN URJC is not only about trips, activities, or parties, but about the relationships that go beyond the simple act of helping and end up becoming true friendships, where distance matters far less than the feeling of having been part of something as unforgettable as being on Erasmus at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos.
More than 6,200 days have passed since that October 28, but we can assure you that there has not been a single one in which any of our volunteers has not given their best to support fellow international students. So we can only say THANK YOU to all those ESNers and international students who have been part of this great adventure.
As you can see, we may have changed our name to Erasmus Student Network Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, we may have changed offices or activities, but the desire and excitement to help have remained intact since day one. The 52 volunteers who make up ESN URJC today are proof of that.
