Africa Selection Camp – Day 2

Blog written by Nadja (Serbia) and Anika (Germany):

Our first day in Château-d'Oex started off with a morning jog. It was quite intense and most of us were extra tired because we went too bed late. Running uphill was quite challenging and the high altitude didn’t make it any easier — but we all made it back to the hotel on our feet!

After an excellent breakfast we divided into two groups for two sessions — the Mayo Clinic Fitness Testing, and the Journalism and Social Media Training workshop with Mary, Mike's communication director. The fitness testing was a great experience pushing ourselves to the limits and learning more about our bodies. It wasn’t easy but the support of other team members helped us endure all tests. During the Social Media Training we practiced speaking in public, in front of cameras, and learned how to reach out to the press. We had a lot of fun listening and advising each other on how to represent ourselves and the PANGAEA program as best as we can when we return to our countries at representatives.

Later in the evening, we had a photography session with Dmitry, Mike's photographer, during which we learned techinques for improving our pictures in the future. Afterwards we went outside to take photographs and implement what we had learned.

All of us are quite tired and trying to rest after a great first day at the 12 PANGAEA Selection Camp. We are ready for the days to come!

-Nadja and Anika