My first volunteer work

My first memory of the ERC goes back to 2016, when I was still studying in Rzeszow. At the time, I was active in the student organization AIESEC and learned that volunteers were being sought for a major space event. I hadn’t heard of ERC before, it was a complete novelty for me. I signed up for one day, having in the back of my mind that if I didn’t like it I could always quit. In the end I stayed the full 3 days, and the experience is still in my memory. This volunteering definitely changed my life!

I had never been to a similar event and had no previous experience in volunteering – I was completely unsure of what to expect. When I went to the ERC and saw so many people, I wasn’t sure if I would find myself in it. While it may be hard for some to believe today, I’m an introvert, so opening up to new experiences doesn’t come easily to me – I owe my progress in this aspect to volunteering. In 2016, before the first one, I was a typical “nerd” who studied a lot, constantly sat in books and thought about a scientific career. Fortunately, after arriving at the event site, I immediately met Roksana – the volunteer coordinator. I got my first tasks, met new people, started to feel the atmosphere of the event. At that time, a lot of tasks for volunteers were related to the creation of the Martian surface itself inside the congress hall – I remember well the orange pellets spreading everywhere! I also remember that my first task was to direct car traffic. The whole day in the sunny parking lot gave me a hard time!

The ERC allowed me to meet a lot of colorful people with definitely different experiences than mine, with different ideas and outlook on life. It was an amazing window to the world for me, which made me eager to return to subsequent editions, where I kept learning new things.

The community

Quite quickly I became Roksana’s right hand, which to this day I consider a great honor and for which I am very grateful. Accompanying Roksana and observing her behavior in successive editions of the ERC in the course of carrying out so many varied tasks, I learned how to deal with many issues at the same time (or choose the most relevant ones at a given time), how to talk to different people and appreciate their work, how to delegate tasks and motivate the people I work with.

This first volunteering at the ERC also made me learn about the existence of the organization “Peace Patrol,” which opened the way to other initiatives and to become more involved in social issues. I believe that this multi-year adventure with the ERC really changed my life, because it changed me and the way I look at the world. I realized that you can learn not only from books, I started to cooperate with people, I learned to work better in a group, to see the advantages and expectations of certain people. Thanks to Roksana and the people I met at the ERC, I learned how to delegate to others such tasks that they would enjoy and make the most of their strengths. These skills have proven to be very useful in my later life and career – I also use them now that I am leading a research topic at the Lukasiewicz Institute (Lukasiewicz-WIT).

After so many editions, coming to the ERC is an opportunity for me to meet up with old friends. On the other hand, every edition is different, new people keep coming, you can meet enthusiasts of many disciplines and professions, of all ages and from many different parts of the country and the world. The ERC gives you the opportunity to meet members of the teams, who very often stay awake for three nights to repair/improve their rover. You can also talk to the speakers, experts in their fields and science popularizers who roam among the exhibitors’ booths. I think it’s this community that makes the ERC such a unique event.

Popularization of science is dear to my heart

Since I have been participating in the ERC project, I completed my master’s degree and PhD in materials engineering, specializing in the topic of high-temperature corrosion. I also worked briefly as an energy efficiency auditor, and currently work at the Lukasiewicz Research Network – Warsaw Institute of Technology, where I combine my knowledge and professional experience developing new material solutions for energy and sustainable economy. Although my work is not directly related to space technologies, being at the ERC is accompanied by the conviction that we are all passionate about science and development. We don’t have to work in the same sector to think in a similar way and have a similar approach to solving problems. Nevertheless, very often when listening to conferences at the ERC, I feel proud to be working in the research sector myself.

I started at the ERC in 2016 as a volunteer. Since then I’ve been given more and more challenging and responsible tasks, first from Roksana, then from Anna Karahan, the person in charge of the conferences and the exhibitors’ area. During the upcoming edition, I will be conducting a workshop for young people about how atmospheric conditions (temperature, humidity) and environmental pollutants (such as chlorides or nitrogen and sulfur oxides) affect corrosion losses in the economy. This aspect is not the first that comes to mind when addressing the impact of climate change on life on Earth. Changes in the energy mix have a number of different effects. I plan to discuss this issue from a materials perspective at the upcoming ERC!

This is something I am very happy about, because issues of popularizing science are extremely close to my heart. In my career, I have taught students at Rzeszow University of Technology, and I also have experience working as a high school teacher. Even now, working at Łukasiewicz-WIT, I cooperate with the “Children’s University Foundation” and teach physics to children aged 5-11. I am also actively involved in the Social Responsibility of Science team at my institute.

I “almost” became an astronaut!

I learned about the European Space Agency’s 2021 astronaut recruitment announcement from ERC social media. I read the application requirements, and it turned out that they were not at all exorbitant, and I met most of them (and I could easily complete the missing medical examination, which I did). I also had a lot of extra points – knowledge of foreign languages other than English, international internships (the astronaut’s job is a secondment job), almost completed my doctorate, and received military training, which means proving myself in the field. Out of sheer curiosity, I decided to apply. I didn’t count on much, but I figured that even getting to the second of the six stages of recruitment would be an amazing adventure. It turned out that more than 22,000 other people applied along with me, so the story of my application ended rather quickly. However, I think few people have a printout of an email from the European Space Agency on their closet thanking them for participating in astronaut recruitment. That wouldn’t have happened without the ERC either!

The ERC inspires

I remember how I really wanted to be at the 2022 lecture by Artemis Westenberg (president of Explore Mars Europe, an advocate for the space community in Europe and a distinguished women’s rights activist). Unfortunately, volunteer duties prevented me from showing up at the auditorium. In my spare time, however, I was able to connect to the online broadcast of the conference and heard literally one, but very key sentence uttered by Artemis: “One person can make a difference, and therefore – should”. I think the ERC inspires a lot of people to take action. Not only the competitors, organizers, speakers and volunteers, but especially the visitors. In recent years, I’ve also noticed that ERC organizers are putting more and more emphasis on reaching out to younger audiences, showing them the relevance of science and the competencies of the future, inspiring them to grow with care for the environment. It only takes one person to revolutionize the future. Maybe it will be someone from the ERC?