David Sudholt

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself – who are you, where do you come from and what are your hobbies?
I am 24 years old and have been living in Aachen for the past two years. I study Computer Science and I will soon start my Masters’ Thesis in the field of Human Language Technology. I usually spend whatever time is left after working as a research assistant, classes and AEGEE on music – playing it, listening to it or going to concerts and festivals. Well, that or Netflix. 

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How/why did you discover AEGEE?
In the summer of 2018 I had just come back from an exchange semester in South Korea and wanted to keep the international feeling going. I discovered AEGEE-Aachen’s Erasmus Tutor Program on a university website and signed up. Because I had quite some free time before the start of the next semester, I joined a lot of AEGEE-Aachen’s local activities as well, and before I knew it I had sold my soul.
Can you sketch your AEGEE-career for us? What was your ultimate highlight within your time in AEGEE?
After three months of attending and helping out with a bunch of awesome local events, including two exchanges in Aachen, a position on the board opened up. It seemed like the ideal opportunity to take over more responsibility in AEGEE, so I applied for it and got elected as a “Beisitzer”, meaning a general board member with flexible task definitions, in November 2018.  
Back in September, before any of that happened, I had already been talked into asked by my local to apply for RTC Erfurt. I had no clue what that meant or what to expect, but they offered to reimburse the fee so I applied. The event took place just two weeks after the start of my board term and is still my personal favorite experience in AEGEE. The group spirit among the participants was awesome, the content was extremely useful for a newbie board member but most importantly, it showed me that AEGEE as a European organization is so much more than a couple of cool events on a local level. That event made me really commit to the organization and identify as an AEGEE member
Since then, I’ve attended EPM Izmir, NWM Heidelberg and Agora Bucharest, as well as some fun events and exchanges. In May 2019, I was elected as the successor of our long-time treasurer of over three years, and have been taking care of our finances since then.
Are there any specific plans or goals (within AEGEE) you strive towards?
Currently I want to fulfill the tasks of a treasurer to the best of my abilities, which is keeping me quite busy. I am also taking care of our IT and our website whenever I can – coming from a Computer Science background, I would like to extend the existing capabilities and make it a useful and valuable tool for our members.
I definitely do not see my AEGEE career ending with my term as a treasurer next year. Since the European level is what really sold me on AEGEE, I would like to take a position within AEGEE-Europe eventually, but right now I am focusing on my role in the local.
Do you have a message for the members of AEGEE-Leiden?
Everytime that I’ve had the pleasure to meet AEGEE-Leiden members on European events, I’ve known them as nothing but friendly, helpful, and dedicated to give their best for AEGEE. I look very much forward to repeating this experience at Agora Salerno!