The advice and experiences of the expert in inspiration and personal development, Víctor Küppers, as well as the overcoming stories of Mireia Cabañes and David Aguilar "Hand Solo", have been the protagonists of this day in which more than 150 students have signed up to the community of Volunteers of Universidad Europea
The Second Meeting on Diversity and Volunteering, organised by the University Life and Social Commitment Unit of the Vice-Rectorate for Students and University Life of the European University, has had in its second edition with inspiring presentations that could be followed online and more than twenty NGOs on the campuses of Valencia, Canary Islands and Madrid, which have made visible the areas of disability, inclusion and promoted university values in students in order to build a fairer, more diverse and supportive world. The conference also included the participation of volunteers from the University, who showed their experience in various projects and promoted volunteering through activities that added value to the educational and personal experience of the attendees. As the Vice-Rector for Students and University Life, Elia Cambón, said, the meeting brought together "diversity and volunteering as two complementary realities".
The author, professor and well-known lecturer, Víctor Küppers, shared with the students the three attitudes that he considers fundamental for breaking down frontiers, because "life is about attitude and, fortunately, attitude can always be chosen". The first of these, as he explained, consists of the attitude towards life and the state of mind to face adversity and the difficulties that arise. As he explained, it is essential to "focus on what is in our hands and have the serenity to accept what cannot be changed". The second attitude consists of doing the little things in an extraordinary way. Finally, he emphasised the importance of having human qualities. As he says, "by combining these three formulas, we can go from being mediocre to being great people and leave a mark on others".
In the following inspiring talk, Mireia Cabañes, Universidad Europea alumni who overcame the Ewing's Sarcoma she was diagnosed with at the age of seven, said that her "day-to-day life was like playing a video game screen and I always tried not to get to the game over. From the very first moment, I knew that if I got over the disease I was going to lose something, which was my leg. Instead of limiting myself, I decided to make my life a little bit better. I grew up being quite different from others, but I never lost my essence".
In 2019, as he recounts, "came the worst time of my life". When he had achieved all the challenges he had set for himself and the job of his dreams, he came down with chronic pain for which he was given an absolute disability. It was the documentary Resurface that changed her life and made her decide to try adapted surfing, where she has become champion of Spain, European champion and runner-up in the world. The athlete stressed that "limits only exist in the mind" and emphasised that "if you go down the right path, the moment arrives. It can just take a little longer".
For his part, David Aguilar, better known as Hand Solo, has told his story of overcoming his own challenges. David was born with Poland syndrome, which prevented his pectoral muscle and right forearm from developing. From an early age he took refuge in Lego: "When I was five years old I received a package for Christmas that was a boat, and this boat, when I started to build it, was taking on volume. This volume made me understand the pieces of a puzzle in a different way". From then on, he began to create his own figures with LEGO pieces "to the point where I made my first prosthesis when I was nine years old".
David, who holds a Guinness World Record for being the first in history to create a LEGO arm prosthesis, reflected on what was until recently the definition of disability and emphasised the importance of respect: "There is a word I hate very much, which is disability. Until very recently it was defined as a limitation due to the fact of being different, but different from what? Is anyone normal? We are all normal in our own way. These differences do not make us disabled, nor do they make us freaks. We are all different. There is one thing that must remain the same for everyone: respect.
