The Buddha's tale

If you ever participated in an EYP Italy event (although not PIS, because apparently it was too busy with something else), you may have stumbled upon a very peculiar object, namely EYP Italy’s very own mascot, “il Buddha”.

 

The legend around The Buddha originates on a hot summer day in Milan, in August 2021. The National Board of PEG was meeting physically for the first time in their term and between strategic discussions and events planning The Buddha made its appearance. The meeting was hosted by one of the Board Members, in a classical students’ flat: random street signs, a full-size letterbox, and various objects decorated the place. Within these objects, The Buddha was immediately chosen as a symbol of the meeting.

It made its first official appearance the 7th of August, in the hands of the then President, Liam McCourt, and was then officially adopted by the Events Coordination Team as lucky charm of that year’s events.

 

And it was in that very Board Meeting that The Buddha got the first of his many holes. It is said that no event can end without The Buddha increasing its fractures, but this was never officially confirmed nor denied by the National Committee. 

What we do know is that from that moment on, The Buddha was seen at almost every event organised by EYP Italy, no matter the scale, from Members Weekends, to National Selection Conferences.

 

As a reminder of The Buddha’s glorious past, every Organising Team has tributed its memory and power, sacrificing in its name a sticker: as a matter of fact, The Buddha hosts the stickers of all the events blessed by its presence.

 

Some dark rumours spread across the Network. It is said that the fractures on The Buddha’s skull are increasing and that when they’ll reach the edge of breaking it, EYP IT’s own future will be at risk.

Yet, The Buddha is more than just an object: it is the symbol that embodies the (recent) past of EYP Italy. When the time comes, it will naturally hop over and embrace another symbol, ready to face the challenges it’ll be faced with.