My experience day after winning the Eco-Olympics

I entered the Eco-Olympics very spontaneously, I think just a day before the deadline. Despite the fact that I had been interested in the topic of ecology for a long time, I didn’t know PlanetLover yet. I did not at all expect that I could win the national ecology Olympiad. I was very surprised that I made it to the second round. I was delighted that my knowledge of ecology stood up to such a test. But I was even more delighted with the winning prize, which was not ordinary at all – together with the other winners I received an Experience Day.

Although I had no idea what was in store for me (it was kept secret until the last moment to be a surprise), I really appreciated that the organizer, the founder of PlanetLover, had set aside a day of her time for all three winners (when you win, for example, a math, English or other Olympiad, you get a maximum of an email and the winning prize – so it’s great if someone decides to congratulate you personally). And it wasn’t just Sasha who made time for us! But I’m getting ahead of myself, I want to describe the day nicely from the beginning:

We started in Bratislava, where we met at the station in the morning. There were three winners (junior and senior high school and elementary school students), each of us visited Bratislava with our teacher. We met the founder Sasha Madrova and from there we went to the Slovak Olympic and Sports Museum. There we were joined by two seemingly inconspicuous, but famous people 😀 – Zuzka Rehák-Štefečeková (Olympic shooter, holder of a gold and two silver medals) and Filip Polášek (professional tennis player).
Together, we first took a small tour of the museum, looked at the collections and listened to the interpretation. Although I have a lukewarm relationship with sports (other than going to yoga, my arms hurt from PE, and I hate the Tour de France because you can’t watch any movies back then in my house, I don’t interact with sports much (which is also a shame)), many of the stories of our Olympic athletes are truly inspiring and triumphant.

Then we split into two teams at the museum and all competed in a road biking and downhill skiing simulation (which was much harder than it looks :D). Afterwards, the athletes and Sasha gave us our prizes: besides the diploma, I was very pleased to find a big Olympic rucksack full of books about both ecology and sport (the books are the best part! :)) and I also found a big handy water bottle (because one of the basic principles of eco-enthusiasts is not to create unnecessary waste). After the prize-giving we moved again, first to the nearby House of Culture where we played an interactive game together and then to lunch together at Mint (which was probably the best point of the program for me as we all talked at first to get to know each other better and then it all turned into an engaging and fruitful discussion about our education system). Finally, we had a nice (and physical :)) afternoon at the Aurelium Science Experience Centre.

I really enjoyed the day. However, what I appreciate the most about the whole experience is that I got to know Sasha and PlanetLover. It’s a hugely inspiring organisation that has given me so much since I discovered it. Besides the Eco-Olympics, they have many great educational projects to their credit. I myself am most recently part of the Ekoworkshop, run by Sasha Madrova herself, which takes my education about environmentalism and ecology to a new level.

So if you’re reading this blog right now and wondering if you’re going to sign up for the Eco-Olympics, don’t hesitate. It could be the start of your journey towards a more sustainable life or a better understanding of the world. Go give it a try for sure! 🙂

Pavlína P. (20 years old, from Pezinok) is a student at the gymnasium in Pezinok. She won our second year of the Eco-Olympics and also participated in the third year of the Ekoworkshop. In the future, she would like to develop her education about ecology and environmentalism also at university. In her spare time, she enjoys reading books, baking, practicing yoga, being involved in the school parliament and going for nature walks. You can follow her journey towards a greener lifestyle on her instagram account paulinkina_eko_vyzva.