Valentine’s Day at RSU – Team Building for Local and International Students

February is not only the month of love at Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU). The RSU Student Union (Studējošo pašpārvalde, SP) and the International Student Association (ISA) have designated February to be Integration Month. For the second year in a row, both societies organised a series of events, the main goal of which is to unite local and international students.

Students were able to explore four topics, one for each week in February, in the context of different cultures to cover the diversity of RSU students. One of the themes was Valentine's Day, and this year the annual Valentine's Day event was organised in both Latvian and English.

The aim of the Valentine's Day event this year was to create a cosy mood and a pleasant, informal atmosphere and to focus on different types of love, including self-love.

The event took place remotely from 7 to 11 February. Participants were divided into couples and could engage in various themed activities – they could play self-love bingo, create affirmation pictures, translate song lyrics, write recipes for the perfect date, etc. Several couples consisted of one Latvian and one foreign student.

The closing event took place on 12 February. It was the first event that could take place in person after a long time. Students met at the club Piens where Elīza Marta Stangaine and Hussaina Musaji entertained the participants by involving them in various activities. The evening’s special guest was Latvian stand-up comedian Rūdolfs Kugrēns.

The event was organised in the epidemiological “green zone” and the number of applications to participate was very high, proving that students were starved for in person events. Unfortunately, the number of participants had to be limited due to safety restrictions, and not all students could participate in the event.