Course in Project Management

Established by the SMART foundation

Carried out by Alexander from the 42-foundation

We had a great day where we learned all the aspects of making a project, from having the idea  to adhering to the deadlines in the last seconds, to figuring out the right location and sponsors; how to actually find them and make them support YOUR project and in the end  make all of your project come true and function in the real world. The short version: how to get the project from your head carried over to the real world.

In order to show that we had understod everything we had been told, we were put together in groups of 3 to make our own fictional project and go through all the steps. In my, Zanda's and Hanna's group, we established a soupkitchen/homeless center, the other group with Maria, Jeroen and Olles (the volunteers from the SMART foundation including Hanna) thought out a weekly film festival, and the last group consisting of Vicente, Dimitris and Boris (our mentor) planned a tandem languages homepage with real-life happenings.

Alexander also told us the funny story about why his foundation is caled 42. Anybody who can guess why? Because 42 is the answer to the meaning of life! Or at least it is according to "the hitch-hikers guide to galaxy". But as he explained us, the answer is not always the most important part, but asking the right questions. If the people in "the hitch-hikers guide to galaxy" had asked: "what is 6x7?" the answer would have been more right than any other. So at some point is it more important to ask the right questions -that make you think and wonder- than expect some great answers from others that will change your life without you lifting a finger.

It was a really informative day, and we learned a lot. We have taken it with us and will now use it, though in smaller amounts, when we are doing our own projects at the library.