SPEAKERS 2023
Anna Ema Soroková
Emka is a GLS student who is fascinated in all aspects of medicine, particularly first aid. She enjoys participating in the numerous extracurricular activities that our school offers and she adores learning languages like Spanish and English. Her favorite topics to discuss are different accents of English language, watching tv shows and obviously, school. Emka´s participates in the singing in folklore choir, Collegium Leonardi choir,… one of her favorites is "Zdravotnícky krúžok" which teaches you how to assist in emergencies and challenging circumstances. Say hello to her if you see her in the GLS hallways; she will respond with a smile. On out Taste The Future conference she will tell us what she has learnt about the first aid and how to help during epileptic seizure and other diseases that teenagers are affected nowadays.
Timotej Olejník
Timo is a bilingual student and he is a student in Leonard Stöckel Gymnasium. His interests are geography and exploring cultures around the world. For him, he experienced culture shock when going to Slovakia. He didn't know the school system and didn't know anyone. Everything was different, but he still loved to learn all the differences that Slovakia has. So that's why He will give his presentation about the differences between English schools and Slovak schools. He will talk about the systems and classes in his former school in the UK.
Kristína Hnideková
Kristína, also known as Kiťa to many of you, is a third-year student at the bilingual section at GLS. Her best qualities are creativity and organization, which is also why she enjoys spending time with her youth group and always tries to be able to assist with the summer camps. She is also a member of parliament SP PSK for Prešov region. All of her goals revolve around traveling all over the world and becoming a professional ice cream degustator. Kiťa is a student who loves solving challenging sudoku or playing chess in her cozy room but also isn't scared of facing her problems with her intelligence or her bow. She will explain the basics of archery to us and give us an example of the reason why she fell in love with it. So be respectful or you won't be on her good side, this girl is not one to be messed with.
Branislav Grivna
Branislav is a student at GLS in Bardejov. He is 18 years old and was born in Brussels, Belgium. Branislav previously went to school there. He and his family moved back to Bardejov after finishing 3rd grade in 2013. He really enjoys PE, physical activity and woodworking. After school he wants to join the US Military as a marine in South Carolina, USA. He would like to get to the elite unit, MARSOC. That connects with the topic he'll be talking about. His talk will be about the sport of airsoft.
Katarína Hudáková
Katka is a student of Gymnázium Leonarda Stockela of the bilingual section and currently she is in her fourth year. She is really enthusiastic about humanistic ideas and literature, therefore she realy enjoys civics and both english and slovak literatures in school. In her free time she likes to polemize about her ideas and write her thoughts in rhymes. With her hyperfixation on human mind and psyche she would really love to continue with this path and become a psychologist while writing on the side. Katka is really fond of classical literature, her favorites being the works of Jane Austen, due to the fact that she also enjoys history and fashion too she will get u a closer look into a closet of a british lady in a regency period.
Róbert Rapčan
Interventional Pain Specialist/medical director
Co-founder of the EuroPainClinics brand and Medial Director of EuroPainClinics workplaces, a leading European expert in minimally invasive and endoscopic back surgery. He is the first doctor in Slovakia to have been awarded the prestigious international FIPP certification for pain management intervention by the World Institute of Pain. He has worked in a number of foreign clinics and university hospitals where he held the leading medical positions. Currently, in parallel with clinical practice, he lectures at the 1st Clinic of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Medicine at LF UPJŠ in Košice. He is an active athlete who enjoys triathlon, martial arts and also practices and teaches the "Ice Man´s" Wim Hof Method. His lecture will focus on the specifics of diagnosis and treating back pain in terms of highly specialized intervention techniques, as well as the impact of various sports activities on the spine.
Santiago Aguado
Country Managing Director
Santiago works as a regional managing director for four countries in a multinational corporation. He climbed up the corporate ranks, covering various technical, managerial, and sales roles. In his spare time, Santiago enjoys doing business in the local market, studying the trends in the IT industry, behaviour in stock markets, and the discipline of management, but his primary passion is spending time with his family. With his wife and kids, he enjoys traveling near and distant countries, and hiking in high mountains like the Himalayas or the Alps. In his presentation, you will learn about working in a multinational corporation, its highlights and lowlights, but also what in specific is important to move forward in this career.
Miloslav Olejár
Architect / partner, Olejar Architekti s. r. o.
Milo is an architect licensed in Slovakia and Canada. He graduated Slovak Technical University in Bratislava – Faculty of Architecture in 1996. Born in Bardejov. His first job was at the Bardejov City Hall. After one year he started work in the private sector. In 1999 he became a member of the City council in Bardejov. In 2001 moved with his wife to Canada (Ontario) where he worked for various architects and later he started his own architectural practice in Slovakia (Bardejov) and Ontario (Brantford). During his time abroad he was also an active citizen in his hometown. Milo has founded Bardejovizie.sk and organized local conferences related to city planning. His passion for Bardejov and vision for this town led him to run for the mayor's office in local elections in 2022. His ambition was to make this city attractive for young people to stay or return back to Bardejov after studies or work abroad. His lecture will try to answer the question" Why become an architect? What it takes to become an architect and what you should take into consideration if you are interested in getting into the profession. The second part of the presentation will touch on reasons why architects should be active in their communities.
Katarína Tomková
Director Cabinet of the State Secretary Andrej Stančík, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic
Katarína was born in Bardejov. She finished her MBA philology studies of English and French language, literature and culture at Prešov University. She worked as an expert and negotiator in the field of European funds for more than ten years. She played an active role in preparation and running of the historically first Slovak Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2016. Her postings abroad include Senior Diplomat for Cohesion Policy at the Permanent Representation of Slovakia to the EU in Brussels and Deputy Head of Slovak Mission in New Delhi. Today she manages the Office of EU Affairs State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign and EU Affairs of the Slovak Republic. Do I have it in me to become a diplomat? What does it mean to represent your country's interests abroad but also at home? Focusing on professional as well as personal skills of a diplomat to be.
Ľuboš Trudič
Project Manager/CBRN Defence Expert - International Security and Emergency Management Institute
Ľuboš Trudič graduated from the Military Academy of Liptovský Mikuláš in 2000, where he specialized in Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defence (CBRN), and he later received an MBA in Sport Management in Prague. He spent almost all of his professional career (23 years) in the Slovak Armed Forces, where he worked in different positions within the CBRN Defence Forces. Since 2007, he has been involved in various international projects in the development of CBRN defense capabilities, in CBRN training of first responders, development of CBRN defense courses, trainings, exercises as evaluator and trainer and the development of the CBRN Defence Assets for real deployment. He took part in different conferenceslike the NATO CBRN Defense Capability Development Group, CBRN Defense Physical Protection Panel, CBRN Defence Doctrine and Terminology Panel and Force Protection Working Group. He was deployed in the NATO mission in Kosovo in 2007 and 2010 and in NATO CBRN Centre of Excellence in Czech Republic from 2013 to 2016.
Since 2018 he has been working as a Project Manager and CBRN Defense Expert at the International Security and Emergency Management Institute (ISEMI), where he is responsible for different projects around Europe and in South East Asia. He is also an ISEMI advisory group member. Ľuboš Trudič is one of the founders of the football school FK Gerlachov and he is also a sport manager for the FK Gerlachov football club. He was born in 1976 in Bardejov. He is married and he has one daughter.