The event was ceremonially opened on 26 July. The participants were welcomed by the moderators dressed in Russian national clothes. Also the forum members bit a piece of kalachs (white bread) following the welcoming Russian tradition.
After lunch the forum was ceremonially opened at the main camp platform. The moderators reminded the event participants that a few notable anniversaries are united by the forum – the 110th anniversary of Saratov University, the 60th anniversary of the Student Brigades movement, the 15th anniversary of the Russian Student Brigades All-Russian Youth Public Organisation, the 65th anniversary of the Chardym Camp, and the 5th anniversary of the PRO100 Forum itself.
The students were welcomed by Vice-Rector for Youth Policy and Organisational Work Anton V. Golovchenko.
‘I want each of you to get the knowledge and develop the skills useful for your life. I hope that you will find new friends here as well,’ said Anton Golovchenko.
The forum members were congratulated on the opening by Deputy Minister of Youth Policy and Sports of the Saratov Region Angelina A. Belovitskaya.
‘The PRO100 Forum is a 100% self-investment. Fearlessly move forward, believe in yourselves, and know that anything is possible if you know what you want,’ commented the deputy minister.
Director of the PRO100 Forum Georgii I. Bolotov reminded that its participants would be able to make their dreams come true due to the event. Besides, he pointed out that many people had applied for the forum, and it was difficult to choose the best ones. According to Georgii Bolotov, in total, 634 people applied for the event, but only 110 of them were to be chosen as the members and 40 as the moderators. Therefore, they had to accomplish one more task – to write a bylina (a traditional Russian epic poem).
Then the students enjoyed dancing performances and danced themselves. After that the host Daria Lipovetskaya asked about their expectations from the forum, and the participants wanted the weather to be sunny, to dance more, to get inspiration, and meet new people. At the end of the ceremony all of them sang the PRO100 anthem.
Later the participants met with Algelina Belovitskaya within the Dialogue on Equal Terms, the Federal Project of the Student Discussion Club. There the deputy minister gave the advice on dreaming so that those dreams would definitely come true. The expert did not only honestly answer the questions but spoke about her plans that she had already implemented.
The first training for the students was organised Programme Director of the forum Daria Lipovetskaya. She told the students about such educational paths as mind, intuition, and sense. Also the participants learnt about positive and negative sides of teamwork.
The second training was conducted by a soft skills trainer, Senior Development Manager of PepsiCo Roman Makhanko. Being a part of a creative laboratory the students actively discussed various issues and asked questions. Roman Makhanko shared his main dream with the audience – he had wanted to organise trainings all over Russia, and that dream came true.
Moreover, the forum members took part in the art-therapy training led by Timur Bochanov, Head of Top training company (Tomsk). The speaker asked the students to pay attention to their emotions and feelings and share them with each other.
Except the educational trainings the moderators had prepared a few team-building games. All forum members were divided into groups with leaders, and the teams ‘planted’ ‘wish trees’ with notes about their dreams and plans.
At the end of the day the students got acquainted with the forum moderators and camp staff, the teams introduced themselves, and after that all of them enjoyed the firework.
