The International Student Festival in Trondheim (ISFiT) is one of the world’s largest international student festival organized every biennial year since the 1990.
It started in 1988 when a group of students took a train from Netherlands to Norway to create unity between students across borders after the Cold War ended.
Now, the festival gathers around 500 students from over 100 different countries for 10 days of dialogue, cultural events, workshops, and more.
ISFiT 2019 took place from the 7th to the 17th of February and has sought to shine a light on this year’s important theme centralized on migration.
Pauline Jane Mandrilla, a graduating Civil engineering student, was among the lucky chosen students to partake in the said festival.
When asked about the application process, she shared that the event was recommended to her by her external organization because of her active involvement in the International Relations and Civic Management committee. She also added that the application process involved a series of essays and passing a Curriculum Vitae with recommendations. Furthermore, she gladly imparted her fascinating experience at the prestigious festival. She exclaimed that it really opened her perspective on the enormity of global issues particularly about migration. According to Ms. Mandrilla, the ISFiT tackled the issue of migration from every direction and made it very inclusive through discussions with journalists, Non-Government Organizations, the United Nations, and politicians. They were taught about the world statistics of refugee crisis through a series of seminars and plenary sessions. As she has eloquently stated regarding the issue, “Countries have built borders when we should have built bridges.” In addition with this, they were also given the opportunity to meet some refugees. She met a football player who was a coach in the Fédération Internationale de Football Association and a journalist from Afghanistan who came to Norway seeking asylum. She also added that we probably know that around 65 million people are displaced all over the world through news reports but what we do not grasp is that they are also human beings with a life, a degree, a career, and a story.
When asked about her thoughts on the whole experience, she had this to say: “If you want data and statistics, you can always search for them in the internet. However, to know the stories beyond those statistics is a rare opportunity. We don’t need to be a social sciences major to be involved, and not because we had it easier than most that we shouldn’t care. Discussions like these don’t only bring awareness but these also spark movements.”
As for her future plans after the festival, she shared that she and her co-delegates are planning to create and organize local projects and will be keeping in touch even after the conclusion of the festival.
As beautifully articulated by the late peace advocate Mattie Stepanek, “Unity is strength… when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.” May Ms. Mandrilla and her co-delegates serve to become an inspiration of our generation and spark movements to slowly bridge the gap among countries and ultimately, break down borders. Eris John B. Deyto
Photo Source: Pauline Jane Mandrilla
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