Once a Milestoner, always a Milestoner; while it’s hard to see a class leave, at Milestone everyone knows that the Laikas, the graduates they have worked so much with will remain members of the community. Nothing proves it more than the alumni themselves, who organise Leavers’ Camp.
“My Leavers’ Camp – I mean the camp I attended in my last year – was a great experience” – Ádám Fehérvári, 2016 Milestone graduate says. As one of the coordinators of Future: Hungary conference series, and president of Oxford Hungarian Society, Ádám has plenty to do, but – besides doing his summer internship at McKinsey & Company – he still decided to take part in the organisation of Leavers’ Camp – for the second time. “I feel I owe much to Milestone and the community, I wanted to give something back – I did it very happily, though, as we had a good team of organisers, and the camp itself is just great.”
Between 30 August and 2 September 2018, Leavers’ Camp was organised for the 8th time at its traditional location, the picturesque Csórompuszta of Balatonfelvidék, a venue that has hosted a number of unique cultural events (for instance, the first Valley of Arts Festival in 1989, and one of the main contemporary creative events of Hungary, Hello Wood). Even though most of the participants will shortly part ways and leave for the world’s best universities, it was clear that their bonds won’t break up.
“I owe many of my current closest friends to my years at Milestone. You don’t become friends with people here only because you spend 4 years in the same classroom, but because you are brought together with like-minded peers” – Milestone alumna Rebeka Gaál explains. Rebeka is going to start her 2nd year at Cambridge University in October, where she studies law and land economy. She’s a member of Cambridge University Hungarian Society, finance officer of the Lucy Cavendish Student Union, president of Future: Hungary – and, of course, a Leavers’ Camp coordinator. “As organisers, we had to focus on providing a great camp experience for the leavers, of course, but by the end of the camp I realised I’d made new friends, too, and that I’d spent some unforgettable time with this year’s graduates”.
We don’t want to unveil the secrets and mysteries of the Camp – as they should be discovered by next years’ graduates themselves. It’s not a secret, though, that the campers’ cheer, and the devotion of alumni to remain members of the community indicate that the friendships and connections made at Milestone are not going to end with graduation.
We wish you the very best, class of 2018! And keep in touch! 🙂
(Thanks to Marcell Kégl for the photos!)