All roads lead to Prague!

It was mid-June, just before the Summer Challenge kick-off when Loop welcomed a group of 16 creative young minds into our office. Their excitement and enthusiasm could be felt in the air as could some legitimate nervous butterflies.

After all, this was not a bon voyage before a relaxing summer holiday – it was the first step towards a potential new career. They knew that in the following weeks, they will have to work as a team to come up with a well-thought-out solution for a challenging task.

We soon realized that we had picked the right people for the job! We were glad to see the sparks in their eyes as they started brainstorming as a team and discussing the task with their mentors.

On the 8th of July we landed in Prague to quite a shock from a weather perspective. Within a couple of hours, we switched from sunny Ljubljana with 31 degrees to the rainy and cold Czech capital. First concern of our eager students? Why is my suitcase full with shorts and flip-flops? Secondly, what’s up with the wind – did we accidentally land in Chicago? And last but not least, how do I convert Czech Koruna to Euro again?

After surviving the first encounter with the Czech winter and learned that 100 Korunas equals four Euro, we went to explore the capital’s stunning architecture, remarkable history, and unpronounceable language. While wandering the streets of Prague, we also successfully located our Locco co-working space.

The four musketeers of team one: Elvisa, Tinka, Žan and Tilen were ready to tackle their challenge. They immediately formed a great team, assigned roles, delegated tasks like pros and smoothly coded their concept to life.

And not only that – from cooking a masterchef dinner for the mentors, sales souvenir shopping or Vltava boat rides, to board game nights, searching for the nearest Albert or Žabka and the hanging Freud – the Summer Challenge was something our participants will never forget.

As Elvisa pointed out, the whole experience opened her eyes to how much a small group of people can achieve in such a short period of time whilst still having fun. “We laughed a lot and brought sarcasm to a new level, but most importantly we learned so much from each other,” she explained.

Tinka was impressed with the collaborative energy charging them during this week: “I enjoyed our team’s spirit and innovative solutions. Besides that we had a great time and shared many memorable moments together.”

To sum it up in words of Žan and Tilen: “We all faced the given challenge and at the end we were really happy that we met and grew together as a team. Prague was an awesome experience, it was PRAGUEtastic!”

We leave you with the condensed Prague guide from Team 1:

• Never ever sit on the grass in the Havlíčkovy – Grébovka Park as they actually have water sprinkles randomly popping out and watering you like a dead plant
• You can’t beat The Game (well you can, but only like two times)
• You can never have too much trdelník
• Cider is actually better than beer
• Pavements made of small bricks are not good for your health
• Teamwork makes the dreamwork and staying calm in programming situations saves the day
• Ahoj is not hello, it’s goodbye and
• Walking up random hills gives you the best viewpoints