Xènia Roviralta is a student at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili. She is 24 years old and is in the final year of her degree in Food Bioprocess Engineering. She is also a representative on the Aurora Student Council, which gives support and advises the senior management of the universities that are part of the Aurora network to promote the common objectives.

Xènia Roviralta is a student at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili. She is 24 years old and is in the final year of her degree in Food Bioprocess Engineering. She is also a representative on the Aurora Student Council, which gives support and advises the senior management of the universities that are part of the Aurora network to promote the common objectives.

What was your first contact with the Aurora project?

I got an email from the University and it seemed like a great project but I was very hesitant about signing up. I thought a lot of people would be interested. But then I thought: the worst that can happen is that I won’t be accepted. So I filled in all the forms they asked for and I got in.

What is your task as a representative of the Aurora Student Council?

I am gradually getting used to the role because I was not part of the Aurora project. I participated in Aurora Student Design Thinking, an activity that consists of working with students from other Aurora universities, with a wide variety of backgrounds, experiences and cultures, to develop innovative solutions to specific challenges in a short period of time. I decided to take part and it was very interesting. From this point on, I became interested in the subject and I have become part of the project. We hope to hold events like the one last November in Tarragona, about international experiences, educational proposals and many other topics.

What is the purpose of this council of which you are a member?

We are a group of students from eight universities, coordinated by the president, Alma Ágústsdóttir from the University of Iceland. We meet every month and discuss the future perspectives of the network and relations with the teaching staff. It is not only about student-to-student interaction. The Council deals with all aspects of the university network. We discuss all the challenges that the university still has to rise to.

What do you get out of being involved in the project?

Since I have not had an international university experience, being part of this project has opened up a whole new world for me. It has also given me the chance of doing an internship in another country in the future. I’ve met incredible people, with a lot of ideas, a lot of creativity and enormous sensitivity.

What mark would you like to make on the project?

What I most want is that the students of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili understand that the project gives you many things on a personal, professional and even academic level. It is very powerful even though it has only just started. The organization is led by extremely competent people and it can be very transformative.

How would you encourage URV students to join the project?

They should not be afraid to try it because they may be able to find a way to make a contribution to university life, which is sometimes very complicated. They should get all the information available, ask questions and get in touch with other people who have already taken part in Aurora so they can discuss any doubts they may have. I believe that the students themselves will be more able to get other university students interested in the organisation than lecturers.