My name is Henika Poláková and I studied at GYMES from 2018 to 2023. For the last three years, my class teacher was our most wonderful Mrs Ivana Vaľková. We were very good friends in our class, but my closest and best friend from the very beginning was Maťa, and that is still the case today. After finishing GYMES, I began studying British and American Studies combined with Psychology at the Faculty of Arts of Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice.

Before I started my first year at university, I enrolled in the one-year programme ŠPM (School for Youth Workers). During nine meetings, which took place every month, I had the opportunity to learn about topics such as discipleship, leadership, systematic theology and Bible study. I experienced a mission trip to Serbia and had the opportunity, under the guidance of a supervisor, to write a final paper on the topic of the Sabbath and its relevance in the twenty-first century. After successfully completing the subjects and defending my final paper, I managed to finish ŠPM with honours.

The activities I am currently involved in outside school are mostly connected with serving young people. For a long time I was part of the youth team in Obišovce, where I helped prepare meetings for young people that take place every week. At the moment I lead a youth summer camp, which brings me enormous joy.

Besides voluntary service, I work as an intern for the Kompas Training Centre, whose mission is to train youth leaders, help and inspire them with the vision of creating God’s movement among the young generation, a generation that finds its home in the local church and transforms society. I work specifically for the KECY project (Conversational English Camp for Youth), where I focus mainly on social media and on accompanying church communities in their growth and preparation for summer camps. And so that there would not be too little service, during the year I am also part of various other projects, such as the Conference for Youth Workers, Recharge, which offers evangelisation training for leaders, and many others.

And outside service, I tutor English.

Ever since I met my best friend Maťa at GYMES, who invited me to a KECY camp where I myself could experience Christian community and spirituality, almost all my life values, direction and activities have revolved around God. I am constantly learning what it means to fulfil my life potential fully. I believe that there is an ultimate truth, one that we do not define, but are born into. God is not interested in our comfort, but in our character. That is why I believe that if I want to be the salt of the earth, I must accept the saltiness, in service but also in life. It is life in Truth that brings me the greatest fulfilment, joy, wisdom and meaning.

How did you perceive the atmosphere at school during your studies?

Whenever my classmates and I stood in the corridor, or were at some GYMES event, or nostalgically remembered those years, we always came to the same conclusion: GYMES was, and still is, a family. And that was exactly what the everyday atmosphere at school was like. At GYMES I always felt acceptance, love and joy, and I experienced faithful and deep friendships. In the classrooms and corridors there was always loud laughter to be heard, teachers devoted themselves to students as if they were good friends, and we were there for one another. The atmosphere in lessons was always pleasant, teachers did not feel the need to create deliberate fear or stress in us, which only deepened our trust in and respect for them. They always had some excellent activity, discussion or joke ready in their pocket to lighten the lesson.

Was there anyone among the teachers at GYMES who inspired you or significantly influenced you?

During my five years at GYMES I had my own sort of “holy GYMES trinity” of teachers who accompanied me and inspired me the most. The first was Mrs Zuzana Trail. From the first year until the last, she deepened my love for English, which I now study at university. She gave me a great deal of wisdom and inspiration, showing me that English can be taught innovatively and playfully, and helping me realise that a teacher does not have to be only a necessary authority at school, but can also be a life mentor who builds personal relationships with students. The second was my dear class teacher, Mrs Ivana Vaľková. She was not only my class teacher but also a mentor. She developed my philosophical thinking and asked questions, supported me in my goals and extracurricular activities, and taught me that sometimes it is good to know even random information, for example about Cuban cigars, because you never know who might ask you about them. And the third was Mr Tomáš Filip. He taught me that in life it is not important only to memorise information, but even more to think about it, analyse it and assess it critically. Despite my occasional clumsiness in history or geography, he never made me feel that I was not capable, but on the contrary, he encouraged me and taught things in such a way that I remember them to this day. That is why now at university I can show off with knowledge about the Cold War that my classmates have absolutely no idea about.

What values or principles from school do you carry with you into adulthood and professional life?

After my years at GYMES, I certainly feel how great the value of friendship, education, support, the ability to take responsibility, trust, respect, freedom and spirituality is.

The sentence that will stay with me forever is: “Be good!”

Which school activity or project was the most unforgettable for you and why?

To this day I remember it as the best week of my life. It was the swimming course in Croatia in 2022. We were in a beautiful place by the sea with wonderful people, we visited lovely Croatian little towns, we were in Medjugorje, we enjoyed many fun activities and, of course, there was also brilliant food. The best moment was the very first sentence from the PE teacher Némethy on the beach on the first day: “Don’t jump here, there are sea urchins and they’ll sting you.” You can imagine what happened to him about two minutes later.

What did you think was unnecessary at GYMES, but later used in life?

At first I was a little frustrated that teachers pushed us to know our presentations by heart and not read from paper. But over time, and even now at university, I see that it was the best thing they could have done. My presentations are on a completely different level compared with others. When I have to present something at school, I feel much more prepared and confident, I know my audience, and so I make a better impression. I notice this in my service as well, when we have youth meetings or some larger gathering as part of projects at work and I have to present something. I am much better able to engage the audience simply because I do not read monotonously from paper but actually deliver the information they need.

Have any of your friendships from GYMES lasted until today?

Yes. My best friend Maťa and I are in contact every day, even though she studies in Prague. As soon as she comes home, we always meet, or sometimes I take a small trip to Prague. My other classmate Sandra attends the same university as I do, only in a different programme, but we meet quite often and there is never a time when we do not remember our dear GYMES together. Recently, one of my close classmates moved to the housing estate where I live, in fact straight into the block next door. And I cannot fail to mention my GYMES brother Michal, or Mihal, Michalica or Michalisko, never Mišo. We never miss an opportunity to send each other some political, philosophical or spiritual joke, or a nostalgic photo from GYMES.

Will you admit to something you got up to during your years at GYMES, now that it is probably “time-barred”?

Once, when almost everyone from our year had gone on a trip to Vienna, two classmates and I barricaded the classroom door with seating cubes so that the teacher would not be able to get in, and then we hid. When she arrived, she just looked confused, pushed the cubes aside and made her way through them, but when she found nobody in the classroom, she turned around and left. We stayed hidden behind more cubes and were delighted that nothing would come of the lesson.