Onafhankelijk magazine van Tilburg University

Looking for
the international vibe
International students mostly hang
out with each other. But there is a
group of Dutch students who are
intensively engaged with them: the
mentors. What drives them?
Every Tuesday is the same for Michiel Matthijssen: first
he eats with his mentor group on the Verbernelaan,
and then he takes them out to the ‘Lamme Goedzak’, a
café in Tilburg. Today is one of those Tuesdays. And
Matthijssen would like to tell us, while he’s waiting for
dinner – today they’re having shoarma – why he reserves his
Tuesday evenings for his ESN-group. And by the way, they throw
candy at him during the phone conversation. That’s what you get
for having a telephone conversation in Dutch.
Buying a bicycle
Michiel (23) is a third-year Econometrics student. He studied in
the United States for almost a year himself. When he came back
to Tilburg University, he missed ‘the international atmosphere’.
By that, he means the group of international students, and how
they interact with each other. “Then I heard that there’s a similar
group of people in Tilburg!”
Every semester, hundreds of foreign students come to study at
Tilburg University for one or more semesters. Most of them live
together in the flats on the Verbernelaan. The international
students mostly hang out with each other. But there is a group of
Dutch students who are intensively engaged with the international
students: the mentors. Two or three mentors are in charge of
a group of exchange students. You help them in every way
possible, whether they are looking for a hairdresser, a dry
cleaner or if they want to buy a bicycle. But most of all, you make
sure that they are enjoying themselves and that they don’t end
up lonely or depressed.
“You can tell almost right away who is in the center of the group,
and who is more on the outside”, says Michiel, who is a mentor
for the second semester. “You try to get everyone involved.
Sometimes it’s shyness and that particular student will become
more comfortable after a while. Others deliberately choose not
to participate in every activity. That’s also fine, of course.
Everyone can do what they want.” To find out what the students
expect and want, mentor Michiel has an extensive conversation
with each of them. As captain (‘chief-mentor’ of the group) he
creates an event on Facebook every week, so that everyone
knows what’s going on.
It is very casual
As a mentor, you also learn a lot about dealing with different
cultures, says Michiel, especially if you’ve never studied abroad
ESN and ICONN are merging
Starting from the academic year 2011-2012, the
international students’ unions ICONN and ESN
are merging to become I*ESN. This merged
union is supposed to become a place for all
international students, whether they are here
for an exchange, or studying in Tilburg for a
longer period of time. And of course for all the
Dutch students who are internationally
oriented. Check out: www.thenewthing.nl
International.25
text Mieke Fiers photography Dolph Cantrijn
Michiel (left) and
Rob (right) surrounded
by their
international
friends.
Univers 12 mei 2011