“Playing an active role in university life gives you an edge”
At UT, there are a lot of activities you can do alongside your studies. I started by organising the Parents’ Day for my programme’s study association. It gave me such a good feeling when I saw how well it went and how enthusiastic the parents were. I then joined the lustrum committee for the student association Taste. We organised a total of twelve activities in three weeks. After that, I took on a fun and educational position as an Open Day coordinator. We spent a lot of time preparing, especially in the week leading up to the Open Days. We practically locked ourselves in the project room for 80 hours that week. It was hard work, but fun. We came up with a new route system to guide visitors from the central reception area to the various programmes. It was great to see how well our system worked on the open days. There were so many people - I think there were around 1,400 visitors. It gave us such a good feeling to see everyone heading in the right direction!
Board member Enactus
When I felt I had mastered the art of organisation, I became a part-time board member of the Enactus: a global non-profit organisation dedicated to improving the quality of life and living standards of people in need through entrepreneurial action. The organisation provides a platform for university students in 36 countries to work with businesses and academic leaders to develop projects that transform challenges and ideas into sustainable solutions. Together with others, I established a completely new board. That was an interesting challenge!
Board member Student Union
I am currently a full-time board member at the Student Union. This will look good on my CV, especially as I’m taking an exact sciences programme. This function shows that I have experience in organising events and that I enjoy working as part of a team. I have learnt so much from being active in university life. Not only have I developed my organisational, leadership, teamwork and managerial skills, but I have also learnt to define a vision and work towards achieving it. However, I’m also aware that you sometimes have to start working without knowing exactly where you’re heading. My active role has also helped me realise what I enjoy doing. I consider myself somebody who connects people. I enjoy bringing people into contact with one another to help them.
Advanced Technology
The fact that few women choose to study exact sciences was extra motivation for me, as I like to be different. I’ve always been interested in the exact sciences. I enjoy logical thinking. I’m fascinated by topics such as how the universe came into being and where we come from. You can search for the answers to those questions using mathematics and physics. Advanced Technology is a very broad-based programme in which you learn to use engineering and technology to develop multidisciplinary solutions to complex problems. It gives you so many career options."