Flowzine, August 2020

FLOWZINE The magazine by Study Association Flow

Issue number 20 - Edition August 2020

EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 1975 VS 2019

TIGER KING

AUGMENTED REALITY With exclusive snapchat filters to try!

Opinions form around the world

Holiday

Hello!

Celebrating a holiday at home? Corona cancelled a lot of holidays, but we got you covered. Don’t get bored, read Flowzine! When you are one of the lucky ones and are on a vacation right now, still read Flowzine for enjoyment! You will not regret it.

Lots of love, The inFlow committee 2019-2020

Content 3 | HORRORscope

By Rosa vd Vleuten, Julia Davidse, Fabiënne Jansen, Luca Vermeirssen 5 | Column

By Jarno van Outvorst 6 | Augmented Reality

By Mitchell vd Water 8 | Eurovision Song Contest

By Jennifer Steenkamp 10 | Mommy knows best

By Luca Vermeirssen 11 | Tiger King

By Nina Rooze & Rosa vd Vleuten

14 | Morning or evening person?

By Julia Davidse 15 | Young Entrepreneurs

By Julia Davidse & Luca Vermeirssen 19 | The Five

By Jennifer Steenkamp 20 | Exchange or...

By Fabiënne Jansen & Luca Vermeirssen 22 | ...Board Year

By Rosa vd Vleuten & Fabiënne Jansen

Colofon Flowzine is the official magazine of Study Association Flow.

Issue number 20 Contact: inflowcommittee@svflow.nl Commissioner: Laura van Houdt

Design: Laura van Houdt & Nina Rooze Committee: Alieke Bakker, Julia Davidse, Fabiënne Jansen, Nina Rooze, Jennifer Steenkamp, Luca Vermeirssen, Rosa vd Vleuten Special thanks to: Our mommies

HORROR

SCOPE

Capricorn It’s not necessary to doubt the past, Capricorn. It’s important to focus on the present. A good trait from Capricorn is that he’s always busy. But he should restrain himself, because before he knows it, he walks past his own shoes and forgets to dress up in the morning.

What would people in the grocery store think of him? He should watch out and avoid the man with the uniform and equipment, because before he knows it, he will get cuffed for walking around naked. There goes another €380...

Pisces Pisces are very artistic. They enjoy music, visual media and spiritual themes. They are very open-minded, show lots of empathy, and often have the desire to escape reality.

But right now, it is very important to stay focused. Big changes are coming for you, and it is important to stay on top of everything that’s happening. If you keep on daydreaming, the past will come back to haunt you...

Taurus The Taurus does not want to feel compelled to anything and so when it is told to eat their plate, the Taurus does not cooperate. Unfortunately for the Taurus, spiders in your sleep will bother you if you don’t eat your plate.

And even though you are a Taurus, no one can withstand a spider invasion.

Aquarius The Aquarius is known for her caring character and her independent personality. She loves helping others and she is a good listener. She will always be there for others, but does not easily accept help: she wants to be independent and authentic. But watch out now: big things are ahead for you, and you will need the help of others more than ever. Don’t ignore their reaching hands. Try to accept help and use it smartly, because you will not make your dreams come true all by yourself...

Aries Aries has a spontaneous character and therefore he likes to party. At a party he drinks a lot and always has a hangover the next day.

Unfortunately for the Aries, two years of his life will go away when he has a hangover. Oops, that will get difficult with such a spontaneous character...

Gemini Gemini are versatile, but does also mean that a Gemini could have multiple faces, literal and figural. With multiple faces, you could talk even more, couldn’t you, chatterbox? Will you keep up every story you tells others? Before the Gemini knows it, his mind is filled with all the stories, so much that his skull can’t hold it anymore. Time will tell before his head explodes... A benefit from this is that the Gemini won’t have multiple faces anymore, because 3 he won’t even have one.

Leo

Cancer The Cancer sign has impeccable emotional depth and is loyal. They better keep up that loyalty, or everything they put in their pockets will somehow be rocks when they pull it out again. Betrayed a friend’s trust? Sorry, your phone is rocks now.

Virgo A good trait from Virgo is that he is a real family person. But what if he is too critical and perfectionistic, which are negative traits of Virgo? What if this causes him to not find his perfect match? Not to critical, Virgo, because if you won’t start your own family within three years, someone will start it for you.

Only, the Virgo won’t be very happy with this new family, because the demons he gets as family, are not so loyal and family orientated as the Virgo himself.

Scorpio

Leo is a Fiery Sign, a sign of Hercules and the Lion. You have a positive connection with the sun and therefore this month is your time to shine. Because of your sunny nature, you tend to overdo the sun. Too bad for you, you’ll change from leo into scorpio. A red layer will spread across your skin because you were too greedy with the sun. So be careful Simba!

Libra The Libra loves to gossip and gamble. But not too much gossip Libra, because chickens come home to roost... You may have such a friendly personality, but gossip is a no go. If you gossip a lot, I would be careful because everyone will stare at you for a long time when you walk by. That will be awkward!

Sagittarius

Saggitariusses (saggitari? saggitariussi?)

Scorpios are emotional and intense. They’re are courageous and optimistic. Are you like the big bad elder sister of the water signs. into music too, perhaps? Otherwise, I can recommend starting now. Just start up slow, At least, that’s what Cosmopolitan says. It’s very appropriate though. From now on, you with say, a song a day. Oh, not to forget: if you don’t listen to that song a day you might want to watch out around frogs. Because if a frog so much as touches you, you might find yourself with one toe less. And might find yourself with one sibling more than that’s for every skipped day. The stars will be before you left home. And you’ll be the only watching, so no cheatsies! one knowing they were not always there. Or were they?

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the end

Jarno van Outvorst about his ‘quarantine time’...

Aloha fellow Flow’ers, I, Jarno van Outvorst, have the honour to write a piece as guest author of the Flowzine this year, bought at Flow’s auction! I was informed about this by our own Lau van Houdt. Now, one day before the start of spring, I’m inside the entire day, looking at the grey sky outside. ‘Lekker met de meiden quarantaine’…I don’t know how everyone does it, but in any case, I can’t. How do people sit still for so long?

Now, you can laugh at me, but I have simply consulted our big friend Google: ‘coronavirus quarantine: 100 things to do while trapped inside.’ For a moment I thought to have hit the jackpot, until it listed ‘puzzles’ as number one…I’ve given it a chance, but after an hour my motivation to complete that unit and my ability to sit still had run out.

Normally I would go on a run or something, to be outside for a moment and to have anything to do at all. Unfortunately, the most beautiful town in the

Netherlands (for those who are not aware: Boekel) has the most infected people per 100.000 right now, so I don’t quite have the courage.

Since my mom has to work at home, I decided to go help around the house a bit, because well…there is nothing better to do…and just like that, I had found my new entertainment: cooking!

I had never expected to spend entire afternoons in the kitchen, but I’m seriously about to finish the Allerhande right now. No joke. I can recommend this to everyone who is bored: just put on a series and try to expand your culinary arts: lasagne with salmon and spinach, quiche with cashew nuts, cous-cous-sa-lad with grilled-chi-cken.

There is quite a lot of upsides to it.

- First off, in any case it’s chill that you don’t eat Italian, Oriental, or Mexican every day. The chef decides what’s on the table, right? Do not underestimate how chill it is to be able to decide what you eat every day.

- You will get inspired by making dishes you would never make otherwise. I’ve notice that I’m able to vary in ingredients even in normal dishes.

The next time I’m cooking for friends or family, I will be showing off, dude!

- Do you have a freezer at home? Cook for 2 or 3 at once now that you are putting the effort in anyways! This way, you will have an entire freezer full of good food that you will only have to warm up. Quite handy when the whole corona situation dies down and you are super busy with everything you will suddenly have to catch up on.

- And maybe the biggest upside of them all: when you are the chef, you never have to do the dishes :)

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AUGMENTED REALITY Augmented Reality (AR) has gone mainstream over the last couple of years. Hundreds of millions AR-filters are currently used on a daily basis - so it’s safe to say it is here to stay. But why did it increase so much in popularity? And how come creatives, developers, as well as brands are now all heavily involved? Let’s zoom in!

This blog is written by the AR team of Greenhouse. They have built multiple AR experiences for top brands like AXE, Universal Pictures, ICI Paris, CZ and many more.

Augmented reality - that’s the technology behind Pokemon GO, right?

We have to admit: the coming of age of Augmented Reality has been a slow one.

The industry has talked about it for decades, before it hit mainstream popularity overnight with the enormous success of Pokemon GO. But while this game was interesting for the public to get familiarized with the technology, various other trends happened that were less visible. These developments paved the way for the widespread adoption of AR. Let’s start with the first one: the democratization of AR technology.

Ok wait, you have to explain this one..

In the early days, you had to be a specialist to develop AR experiences. It required a

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specific technical set of skills, making it hard and expensive to develop. And even if you made it to work, it would often result in glitchy objects floating around in mid-air.

Next to that, from a business perspective it didn’t make a lot of sense to invest heavily in Augmented Reality. New innovations require a certain critical mass among consumers to be of interest for companies.

To experience AR, a consumer needed a special phone with a depth-sensing camera. For years, only the Asus ZenFone and the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro were equipped with this camera. We still have to meet the first person who actually bought one of these phones..

Then, in the summer of 2017, the big breakthrough happened. All the big tech players got involved in a fierce battle to be seen as the AR leader - accelerating the technology to a whole new level. From a hardware perspective, every phone released that year was equipped with a depth-sensor.

More interestingly, from a software perspective, all the big tech companies now released new programs making it easy to develop Augmented Reality experiences.

This was especially true for AR suited for social platforms (social AR). These programs for Snapchat and Facebook/Instagram are free to use, designed to be user-friendly, and accompanied by various templates and tutorials. This truly unleashed the full creativity of designers, developers and brands.

Let’s zoom in on this phenomena: Social Augmented Reality.

Don’t be mistaken: social Augmented Reality didn’t just become popular because it was easier and more fun to develop. It certainly accelerated the progress, but there have been more movements under the surface. Let’s discuss three of them.

1. The development of Social Media caused a snowball effect for AR. Social media usage is still growing every day, with AR perfectly integrated in these channels. More than 210 million people use Snapchat every single day - of which more than 70% uses an AR-filter on a daily basis. On other platforms like Instagram, these AR-filters are nowadays easily used, shared and re-used by others. More than 500 million Instagram stories are seen daily, creating a snowball effect for AR-filters. The result? The Augmented Reality version of ‘Flappybird’ has been seen over 1 billion (!) times within only 2 weeks!

2. Brands are starting to understand that traditional advertising does not reach a new generation.

Fueled by years of serving excess amounts of advertisements, brands are now even more fighting for the attention of the consumer. In our current attention economy, research shows that traditional ad formats will be skipped three seconds faster by gen-

eration Z than generation X. Next to that, short-term metrics such as views and clicks are slowly being replaced by brand-building metrics such as brand engagement and brand loyalty. In order to reach these goals, it moved the focus to metrics such as interaction time. And it is here where social AR is truly redefining industry benchmarks.

One of our AXE cases had an average interaction time of nearly one minute!

3. We have entered the experience economy Where previous generations were focused on ownership, new generations value the quality of experiences. Social AR allows the user to have interactive experiences with the brands they like. Instead of being a passive observer, they can now shape what happens next. We experience that through our filters, people are now co-creating together with their favourite brands, and using these filters as a way to express themselves.

So what can we expect for the future?

We are still in the early days, but we think Augmented Reality will continue to redefine industry standards. With both the big tech companies as well as the top brands all heavily involved, we expect to see various ground-breaking cases in the upcoming years.

Interested in Augmented Reality? Don’t hesitate to contact us at Greenhouse!

<<< Scan these codes and the code at the top of the previous page for some AI experiences!

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Eurovision Song Contest 1975 vs 2019

Once upon a time, a long time ago… Say Ding Ding Dong. It has been a while since Teach-In won the Song Contest for The Netherlands. Forty-five years, to be precise. And apart from the lead singer Hilda Felix’ blond locks, the biggest Song Contest in the world has also gone through quite a transformation. Duncan Laurence managed to bring this beautiful event back to the Netherlands in 2019 with his song Arcade. Every Song Contest lover’s heart broke, of course, upon hearing that the song contest would be cancelled this year. But that won’t make us any less enthusiastic, and what happened in the meantime?

The amount of partaking countries alone already makes a big difference. Where in 1975 there were just a few more contestants than players in a soccer team (19), in 2019 this has more than doubled!

No less than 41 countries fought an exhilarating battle over that so desired title: winner of the Eurovi-

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sion Song Contest. With the small number of contestants in 1975, there were not one, not two, but a whopping zero semi-finals. The winner was directly announced in the only live show: the finale. Maybe for the better. If those 19 countries would be divided into two semi-finals, every live show would be shorter than an episode of GTST (and that’s without commercial breaks). In 2019 there’s two semi-finals and a grand finale. The best ten of every semi-final moves on to the final, and the five countries that pay the most (that might be hypocritical) and the host country move on to wage war on each other.

Oh, and then, that grandiose finale… nowadays a satellite connection is used to get every representative live on screen. In 1975 that went just a tad different. Back then, every representative was called. And yes, that means with one of those old-school phones with a rotating disk and a cable.

About cables, in 1975 nothing was wireless. There our Hilda had a microphone with twenty metres of cable attached to it. Naturally, there were not a lot of dance moves. That said, Duncan Laurence wasn’t the greatest dancer either. But thanks to the wireless microphone on the piano, Duncan was able to get his moment to shine. During the musical intermezzo of Arcade, he made the audience clap together. An innovative

piece of technology, let’s call it that.

The odd fashion during the Song Contest: From wide-legged pants and flowery dresses, to glitter headdresses and dresses with cleavage deeper than the Atlantic Ocean. Australia surprised us last year, with some kind of flying act and a ginormous glitter dress.

In 1975 it was the long, wide-legged pants that would have to catch the eye.

Bittersweetly looking back to last year’s Song Contest, I hope that the Netherlands presents a grandiose singing fest. Thinking back to some less clear voices of some contestants might ease the pain a little.

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M OMM knows Y best...

We all know the best tips come from mothers and grandmothers.

When you don’t know how to solve something or there is a problem you can’t fix. You can call your mother/grandmother, or you can read these tips the girls from Inflow put together for you after consulting with their own mom and grandmother. Do you recognize a few?

We are curious, because they are certainly very useful!

1.

Oh no...you have spilled some red wine on your new white blouse. What to do now? In panic you take a wet cloth and start rubbing. But that’s not what your mother told you...Never rub a stain, otherwise you will only make it bigger. Just dab!

2.

After visiting your grandmother, you certainly know you have to finish your plate, because it will make you big and strong. My grandmother used to tell me this at least 5 times per meal. And after finishing a big plate of food, she asks me if I want some more food.

Sounds familiar?

3.

Drink responsible! But is this a good tip?

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4.

A wise lesson of mothers and grandmothers: ‘Never quit something old, before you got something new.’

5.

In doubt? Then don’t do it!

6.

Having a bad toothache?

Dab a cotton ball in the gin and place it on your sore molar. Doesn’t work? Just take some few sips extra and forget about the third tip…

7.

Never eat yellow snow! If you do….gross…

8.

What to eat today? Your vegetables are rotten, your eggs have passed the expiry date… Well hold on! Just put your eggs in a full glass of water. Does the egg float, then it is rotten, but when it does not float you can easily eat it even though the expiry date tells you otherwise.

9.

What is the power of a cup with water and vinegar? It chases away those annoying fruit flies!

10. Last but not least! The best tip your mother and grandmother can give you during your student days (at least according to me hihi).

Always drink 2 or 3 glasses of water before bedtime after a heavy night out. It will miracly do its work the next day!

TIGER KING

MURDER MAYHEM MADNESS

Most people have heard from the Netflix famous Tiger King by now. The show is about the American subculture of big cat owners, with Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin in the lead. Their story starts with their love for big cats, especially tigers. It ends with Joe spending 22 years in jail for a murder attempt on Carole. How did it come so far?

How much did the producers manipulate? And what is the opinion of people our age around the world? We interviewed some people about all this! If you don’t want to read any spoilers about the show itself, start on the next page!

Eric Goode, a nature protector, nightclub owner and documentary maker, was doing research on illegal snake business when he first learned about our two tiger loving stars Joe and Carole. Joe Exotic is a fully tattooed, gay as can be, really bad country singing, tiger park owning, politically ambitious, narcissistic madman. Carole Baskin also owns a tiger park, but she claims to care for the animals and rescue them. Goode filmed them both for years, and was sucked into the world of intrigue, fights, sex parties, crime, and in the end, a murder attempt.

The footage of this show is amazing. Almost everything was filmed, and Goode also got his hands on old footage of the park. From someone shooting himself in the head to a staff member with a torn off arm after a tiger attack, we got to see it all. You are sucked into the story with only one thought: ‘Is this for real?’ The show started with animal rights, but they get more and more shrouded in the shadow of the insane fight between Carole and Joe. The one secret ingredient to this show is that only one thing is not sure. Did Carole Baskin kill her husband or not? Everyone has their opinThe internet is full of opinions, complot ion about it now. The point of view from Joe is theories and additional material that clear from the beginning, his hate towards her is interesting to watch. Here are three is fueling his one true mission: showing the world what a monster she is. First, he only talks about things you must definitely see, listen wanting her dead, but when time goes by, he and read: 1.

The wedding picture of Carole actually wants is. He’s even willing to pay someone to do it for him. and her current husband. We don’t Watching this show is addictive, incredibly want to spoil too much, but it includes amusing and at the same time deeply disturba tiger costume and a leash… ing. The amount of (illegal) wildlife, drugs and 2.

The country music of Joe Exotic weapons that are visible is fascinating. Unforon YouTube, and we also recommend tunately, not everyone liked the show. Carole the song ‘Carole Baskin’ from Dubskie. Baskin posted on her website that the whole thing is a lie: “There are no words for how disapDisclaimer: It’ll probably be stuck in pointing it is to see that the series... has had the your head for the next week.

3.

Our mini interviews with people sole goal of being as salacious and sensational as possible to draw viewers.” and “They did not from all around the world, which you care about truth. The unsavory lies are better for can read on the next two 11 getting viewers.”

TIGER

KING Opinions from

around the world We interviewed seven people our age around the world about their opinions oand thoughts on Tiger King (a Netflix Original series).

Nina (22) NL “During the show, I’ve had so many feelings and thoughts at the same time. I’m still not sure what my opinion on everything is. On one hand, I believe that Americans tend to exaggerate a lot to get more views. On the other hand, there are also a lot of crazy Americans, Joe being one of them. The scary part about American media is that they are really good at portraying information as facts while they have changed footage in their own favor (I mean look at their president). This makes it hard for me to get a real one-sided view of Tiger King (or America in general). One thing is for sure: the show is extremely interesting and a must see!”

Ashley (20) US “I’ve watched Tiger King twice.

Personally, I think the show is close to the truth, but they definitely exaggerated certain parts in order to get more views. Since I live in the USA, I know how producers and people will extend the truth a little bit in order to please an audience. What changed for me was how easy people can get their hands on drugs, and how they affect people. Moreover, this series definitely changed my perspective on breeding. I didn’t realize how serious a problem it is.

It definitely aligns with abuse towards any animal, and it showed that breeders only care about new animals and not the condition they are living in.”

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Noah (21) US “I think that it is a humorous look into a serious problem that needs to be addressed in America. The commentary on Carole Baskin makes the horrible conditions that the animals live in and the slow reaction of the American legal system a bit lighter. I’ve seen real roadside zoos like the one in the show before, it’s an ongoing problem. In my opinion, this show is not a good representation of most Americans I know, however, feel like it is a good representation of Republican Americans.”

Laura (21) UK “I have watched the whole series and it’s really good and informative. I enjoyed seeing the way people interacted with the animals because it’s hard to tell if they’re domesticated or drugged. My least favorite part would be that Joe cares more about money than the animals.

It definitely changed my opinion on wildlife in the USA. I knew there were some rich people who had a tiger, but I didn’t realize there was such a big market. It opened my eyes to how bad people can be with taking what’s not theirs for the sake of money and entertainment.”

Hormuzd (22) IN

“I stopped watching after a few episodes because I found it too slow and a little boring. I think the series definitely was close to the truth, because everything was being filmed live. That’s why I do believe Carole killed her husband, all evidence points this out. The series didn’t surprise me much, I’ve seen crazier things.

Although, I didn’t know wildlife was such a thing in the southern parts of America.”

Varun (21) IN

Callum (20) AU

“The show feels a little unreal. It’s hard to believe that this whole world of criminal minded, big cat loving, very rich Americans, exists. I think Tiger King covers the entire industry and is successful in showing two sides of every story. The story between Baskin and Exotic is not about good and bad, but of two equally bad people in their own right who are just trying to oust each other. Moreover, I believe the show is close to the truth, as it has covered every single aspect of Joe’s personal and professional life through (unbiased) eyewitness. Joe Exotic was no saint, but Carole Baskin wasn’t any different, maybe even worse.”

“The whole show is just completely nuts. It’s really funny and I’ve watched it twice now. All the ‘Carole Baskin killed her husband’ parts are definitely my favorite. I have to say, I don’t think the show portrays the truth well, it’s really one sided. Before watching it, I already knew that America had a lot of fake news in the media. What surprised me was how common drug use is in the lower class of America. I also never realized how extreme the exotic animal market is. Now I’ve watched the whole lot, I definitely think things need to change.”

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Morning or evening person?

In doubt whether you are a morning or evening person? Keep reading and discover. Check below which type applies most to you! Did you match with most of the morning person statements? Then it’s clear you are an early bird. Don’t you forget to go to bed at 8pm? Do you have the most similarities with the evening persons?

Then keep reading this FlowZine until it’s finished, you night owl! What is bedtime?

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MORNING

EVENING

Johnnys-on-the-spot needs one alarm and they are out of their bed.

What is the snooze button for if you don’t use it, right? A classic night owl statement.

Morning people don’t need caffeine, they make themself a lovely extensive breakfast.

Evening people need a sip of coffee and they are ready to go.

Alcohol and nicotine are less popular among early birds.

A night moth requires alcohol and nicotine more often…

Morning types are fit in the daytime and tired at night, isn’t that handy!?

Night owls struggle with fatigue during the day.

Early-awake people prefer long lasting relationships.

Late night people have several sleeping partners and tend to cheat more often.

Early birds talk in the evening often about the obligations they have the next day.

An evening person is more creative than a morning person, especially in the evening and night.

Morning people tend to plan everything, also expenses.

Night revelers spend money more spontaneously. Spontaneous plans are the best, right?

On academic level, morning people achieve the most in comparison to evening people.

Despite the fact morning people achieve less on an academic level, evening people averagely make more money than the early birds!

YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS

ISKE SYKES

Graphic Designer and Bar owner Who doesn’t want to be their own boss? In 2020, the Netherlands counts just over 2 million companies. The growth in the number of young entrepreneurs in the Netherlands is striking. The dutch young entrepreneurs prove that you don’t have to be a certain age, to start your own business.

Do you have the ambition and motivation to be your own boss?

Then go for it. Iske Sykes and Martijn Crombeen did this a few years ago and they are still happy with the choice they made back then.

What is so special about them?

They run not one company, but two. A special achievement from which we can learn a lot.

Iske Sykes is 21 years old and lives in Axel, a village in Zeeland. She started her own company three years ago, when she was 18 years old. At that time Iske was travelling a lot for modelling around the world. She wanted to do something next to her modelling, to make some extra money and fill

the emptiness that the modelling industry was for her. Graphic design was something she was already interested in and a perfect solution besides her modelling, because she could do this from all over the world. The only thing she needed was her laptop. She started like any other young entrepreneur. Teaching herself how to grow in this business. She started watching Youtube videos, but after a while this wasn’t enough.

She knew this was something she was passionate about and something that she wanted to do for a longer time. That’s why she started following evening school in graphic design. After completing her study, it was time to put into practice what she had learned.

“Iske web and graphic design” was a fact, her own graphic and marketing agency. Like the name says she can make all different kinds of designs, from logos to banners and car stickers. She also designs websites and webshops.

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But that’s not all, because next to her graphic design she helps people with online marketing strategies.

The advantage from being your own boss: you choose how much work you want to do and what you want to specialize in. The reactions she got when starting her own company were mixed. On one side she got a lot of positive reactions. Many people wanted to give her a chance, because she is young and ambitious. On the other side, people didn’t take her serious and didn’t think she could do it, because of her age. But age doesn’t mean a thing nowadays, as we have seen at the enormous increase in young entrepreneurs starting their own businesses.

Starting your own business is one thing, but distinguishing yourself on the labor market is another.

Iske promoted herself by going to events for young entrepreneurs, for example “Rabobank Zomerondernemer”. She also made use of her parents network, who both run their own companies. Starting and promoting your own business can be stressful, but this didn’t stop Iske.

Last year, she opened her second company. Something very different from her other company, namely a bar. But not just any bar. Her idea: a new concept for young modern people to bring the city-feeling to the small village in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. She didn’t expect to start her second business so soon, but it was an opportunity that came her way, so she took it with both hands.

Something we all should do when we have an opportunity to develop ourselves. Like she said, it can be stressful but with a lot of help from family and a motivated team she never has the feeling she is alone.

The graphic design she does by herself, but sometimes when it gets too busy she can count on the help from her friend who studied marketing communication. In the bar she has a manager working and five girls behind the bar. Besides this, she has an accountant and her parents who help her with any questions regarding her businesses. Her future plan is to develop her business and to grow as an entrepreneur. So no time for studying, only working. A special message she wants to give us: just do it. Don’t let your age or education hold you back, if you really want it, you can do it! If you want to know more about something, watch Youtube videos and read books. Never be afraid to ask advice from other entrepreneurs or specialists. Yes, it’s hard work and stressful at times but when you’re motivated and you have a business idea, you have to go for it.

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MARTIJN CROMBEEN DJ and Robotics company owner Martijn Crombeen is only 21 years and already has two companies.

He lives in Axel and is currently a mechatronic engineering student at HZ University of Applied Sciences. He is quite well-known in Zeeland, because he has been a DJ named SevenC for a while now and has two companies of his own. On his 12th birthday he got a small turntable and that is where it all started. After a while he started performing on parties from family or friends. He spent the money he earned from DJing on bigger turntables and other equipment, such as speakers. When he was 17, he had earned enough money to stop working his side jobs and started fully focusing on being an even more professional DJ. First company: SevenC Events Because he invested in a lot of equipment at the time, there was often stuff he did not need at every job. He then came up with the idea of renting his equipment to others. He got more and more customers and at one point, some customers didn’t want to pay cash anymore, they wanted to pay by invoice. He then decided to register at the Chamber of Com-

merce (KvK) and came up with the name ‘SevenC Events’ for his company. He followed the course ‘Summer Entrepeneur’ as well, to acquire some business economics knowledge. After he registered at the Chamber of Commerce, he was able to get a professional promotion and bigger companies wanted to work with him. SevenC Events is a company where you can go if you need a DJ (both DJ SevenC himself and fellow DJs), light and sound installations or for advice on events, planning and promotion on social media. Actually, you can get in touch with the company for just about everything that has to do with small to medium events.

Second company: Crombeen Robotics For his study in engineering, he had to do an internship. He had to do some jobs at a company and eventually the company offered him a contract. Since Martijn was already a busy bee at the time, he didn’t want a contract. Because of SevenC Events, he found out he really liked having his own company.

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He came up with the idea to start another business, Crombeen Robotics, so he was able to work at the internship-company, but based on invoice, instead of having a contract. Because of Crombeen Robotics, there were also other companies that wanted to hire Martijn and this way he had even more projects. Crombeen Robotics provides engineering work, where he is up for hire for mechanic engineering jobs at companies who have an idea or problem. He designs, develops, and builds machines and robots with help from other companies.

The future of his companies and recommendation for starting your own business Martijn is realistic about the future of his companies. He really enjoys SevenC Events, but he has to work very hard and at late hours, so it’s physically exhausting. He realizes that when he’s older, he would rather sit in an office chair than breaking down turntables at 4am.

But as long as he’s able to do it and it is able to combine it with his other work, he will keep doing it, because he still takes pleasure in it. On the other hand, he does see a future in Crombeen Robotics. He wants to live from the money he earns with the company. In the beginning this might be hard, but he will work part time as an employee for another company for as long as needed. At the time he only works for Crombeen Robotics, and he wants employees there. Then,

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he only wants to do the really hard projects by himself and his employees will do the smaller projects. He also wants to hire a software and electric engineer, so they can do big robotic projects.

If he would recommend it? It depends on what type of person you are. If you want to work 40 hours a week and not one more, you shouldn’t do it. Martijn works 7 days a week. Especially in the beginning of building a business, it takes a lot of time, because you really have a lot of appointments. Besides that, there is a lot of stress involved. On the other hand, it is really fun and motivating, you get loads of positive feedback and you can earn a lot more money by running your own business. So, if you can handle stress and a really busy life, he would definitely recommend it!

THE FIVE

Myths about students

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You will not be seduced by delivery.

Making a delicious pasta pesto or a quick curry in your own student dorm seemed like a dream when you had to eat whatever you were served every day. But now that you have to cook for yourself about five days a week after spending an entire day at uni, that Domino’s deal you saw on Instagram gets quite irresistible.

Spontaneous nights out are not done when you have class early the next morning.

Guilty as charged. And often too. Spontaneous nights out are the best nights! And yes, you will really catch up with that class that you will for sure miss the next morning.

3

You will really start your assignments on time.

There you are: one day before the deadline. You have to write a paper about three articles you only vaguely understand.

Maybe just go for the resit?

You will not be urged to eat in the Mensa.

You have an hour off between two classes. Just too short to go back home. So what will you do instead of studying in the library? That’s right: getting a tasty chocolate muffin or some soup in the Mensa. Ah well, sometimes you just need a pickme-up after a long day at uni.

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2 4

You will like every course of your study because you chose it wisely.

If you thought you would like every course in your study program, chances are you didn’t know about statistics yet. Or what about a course in which you learn to write English on an academic level? Ah, well, fortunately there are enough subjects that will actually suit you!

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STUDENTS ON EXCHANGE Larissa is currently finishing her third year of the CIS bachelor and did her minor at Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). In this article, she tells us all about her experiences abroad!

Larissa, why did you want to study at CUHK? ‘’The main reason that I wanted to go to Hong Kong was because it’s centrally located in Asia and I wanted to travel as much as possible during my exchange. Also, I know some people that have been to Hong Kong and they were very enthusiastic about the city. Besides that, the university offered some very interesting courses. Examples of courses I followed are Global Affairs & Public Issues, Media Industries & Practices and Social Media & Crisis Communication.’’

How were these courses organized, and how was the level compared to courses at Tilburg University? ‘’The courses were very interactive, more than at Tilburg University. We had a lot of presentations and projects, and I often worked together with local students. Many of the courses focused on local issues or media in Hong Kong, which was very interesting. In my opinion the level of the courses was a bit lower than the courses at Tilburg University. In Tilburg, we mainly focus on research, while the courses I followed at CUHK were from the School of Journalism & Communication, so writing essays was far less scientific.’’

How do you think this exchange contributed to your studies and self-devel-

opment? ‘’I think that I became even more open minded towards other cultures during my exchange. For me, working together with locals at CUHK and travelling through Asia was the best cross-cultural experience that I could have wished for. I loved Hong Kong, although the situation with the protests was very exceptional. I was kind of relieved to go home in December as the protests escalated at our campus. It made me realize that we should be very, very happy that we have so much freedom in the Netherlands and don’t have to deal with a situation like that.’’

Larissa would recommend everyone to go on exchange. ‘’I started preparing for my exchange one year in advance.

Organizing all required documents such as language certificates, a visa and the scholarship took quite some time and effort, but it was absolutely worth it.’’

HONG KONG Larissa

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TOKYO Robbert

Robbert is currently doing the CIS bachelor and is currently studying at the International Christian University (ICU) in Tokyo, Japan. He will be studying here for three months and tells us more about his first impressions studying abroad.

Why did you want to study at this university, Robbert?

My main motivation to go to this university is because I really wanted to go to Japan. I think the culture of Japan is very fascinating as they are traditional and futuristic at the same time. And not to forget the food. The food was a major factor in my decision as well. I chose ICU because they are specialized in Liberal Arts and Sciences. Therefore, students have the possibility to follow courses in different disciplines.

Which courses are you following at this university and do they differ from courses at Tilburg University?

I am following five courses: three in Media, Communication and Culture, one in Business and one in Literature. Due to the global pandemic that is going on right now, all lectures are given online, and I don’t have a single exam. It is still a bit hard to say since I’m only two weeks in, but on first sight it seems like the level of the courses are below the level of my courses at Tilburg Universi-

ty. While there are more lectures and seminars, a large part of your grading consists of participation, papers, and group projects.

How do you think this exchange will contribute to your studies and self-development?

Regarding my studies, it certainly contributes for a bit, but I feel like I could have enriched my knowledge in a similar way at Tilburg University. I think my exchange contributes a lot to my self-development. I am learning a lot about a culture to which I’m very new.

The traditions and lifestyle of the Japanese people have really inspired and amazed me so far. Also, it’s an experience in itself to be all on your own in a foreign country for a longer period of time.

Robbert is enjoying his time on exchange, despite the coronavirus being amongst us. He said: The learning experience both at the university and as a person makes it worthwhile. If you have a sense for travelling and don’t mind stepping out of your comfort zone, studying abroad is definitely something for you. My tip would be to start researching for destinations as soon as possible and not to rule out destinations or universities without looking at them.

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STUDENT BOARD YEARS For this edition of the Flowzine, we interviewed two students who are currently doing a board year at an association related to Tilburg University. One of them is Laura de Smit, who is doing a board year at the non-profit communication agency Kweek Communicatie. In this article, she tells you all about her experiences as a board member. ‘’Kweek Communicatie is a non-profit communication agency for students and run by students. Our goal is to offer students the opportunity to gain some practical experience related to their studies and to earn a nice amount of money while studying. Together with three other board members, we are always looking for companies who might have projects which our students can fulfill. These projects can be anything related to the communication field, such as writing and editing texts, translations, building websites, managing social media pages and designing posters and flyers.’’ Laura tells us. ‘’I am one of the two project managers, namely the project manager Language & Text. All projects run by Kweek are divided into either Web & Media or Language & Text. I make sure all projects in the Language & Text domain run smoothly from beginning to end. This means, among other things, that I maintain close contact with clients as well as students. In addition to function-related tasks, I also join weekly board meetings and organize workshops and company visits.’’

We asked her about the most exciting part of her board year: ‘’Personally I think it is very exciting that I am, together with three other students, responsible for keeping our own organisation going. We get to make choices that might have a big impact on the organisation. Also, I feel

honoured that I get to share my passion with three other enthusiastic board members.’’

It can not all be sunshine right, what are the challenges she faces sometimes? ‘’For this question I’d like to refer to my previous answer. On the one hand it’s super exciting to be able to make your own choices within an organization, but on the other hand this can be a little scary. You have to learn to dare to make decisions which is sometimes challenging, but also very useful. Not only for today’s matters regarding Kweek, but also for my own future.’’

Laura would recommend everyone to do a board year at Kweek Communicatie. It is a great opportunity to gain experience in running a company and in having professional contact with other companies through networking activities. Kweek Communicatie has a board change every six months. If you have any questions about Kweek Communicatie or perhaps you are interested in a board position, feel free to send an email and find them on social media or visit their website!

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a n i p

s e D The second person we interviewed was Despina. Despina is doing a board year at Serve the City Tilburg, a voluntary organization run by students. ‘’Our organization is controlled by student volunteers who are committed to contributing to the city’s wellbeing. We organize projects for the less fortunate of Tilburg. We have four main target groups: elderly, children with special needs, people without a home (e.g. homeless people, refugees, or women who have been abused) and people with disabilities or who are chronically ill. Each of our four committees is focused on one of these groups and are therefore called Serve the Grey, Serve the Kids, Serve the Homeless and Serve the Brave. Some examples of the activities we organize are weekly walks with the elderly, baking pancakes at Villa Pardoes, cooking and dining with refugees, the annual Sinterklaas party for children in poverty and an Etiquette Dinner.

As the Chair of the organization, I am the first point of contact for board members, the development coordinator and the Advisory Board. In addition, I lead and schedule board meetings and set the agenda. I also support committees where necessary and organize activities that do not fall within

one of our four committees. All in all, a very wide and varied range of tasks, but therefore really nice to do!

There are several reasons why I enjoy being a board member of Serve the City Tilburg. First of all, it is a part-time board year of 24 hours a week, so it does not immediately cause study delay. Secondly, you get to know a lot of new people and associations as we have contact with almost all study and student associations in Tilburg. Last but not least, you get a lot of appreciation from the target groups. By only doing small things you can make people’s day, even in times where most activities are cancelled due to COVID-19.

As a board member of Serve the City Tilburg, you work together with a lot of organizations such as student and study associations but also other voluntary organizations, care homes and hospitals. The communication with all these different organizations might be a little difficult and challenging sometimes, but this is a great learning point, too. You have to work punctually, say no sometimes and be open to each other. I would definitely recommend becoming a board member of Serve the City. You will definitely learn a lot!’’

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