FLOWZINE Meet the new board A guide through the city of Tilburg
Initiatives during the pandemic
Issue 21 November 2020
Dear readers of Flowzine, The time is ripe for us to say goodbye. We have worked on one last edition of Flowzine for you. We hope you like it! This year has been different than expected (< the most used sentence of 2020 probably). However, we were lucky to continue our work. We hope to put a smile on everyone’s face with our last online magazine and hope to give you the deserved relaxation while reading. Next year one of my committee members (Rosa) will take over my function and I couldn’t be more proud. We wish the next committee the best of luck and don’t forget to enjoy! Lots of love, The inFlow committee 2019-2020
COLOFON Flowzine is the official magazine of Study Association Flow. Issue number 21 Contact: inflowcommittee@svflow.nl Commissioner: Laura van Houdt Design: Laura van Houdt, Nina Rooze & Rosa vd Vleuten Committee: Alieke Bakker, Julia Davidse, Fabiënne Jansen, Nina Rooze, Jennifer Steenkamp, Luca Vermeirssen, Rosa vd Vleuten Special thanks to: Nina’s obsession with plants
CONTENT
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How to style your dorm room By Luca Vermeirssen, Nina Rooze & Julia Davidse
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Meet the board By Laura van Houdt & Fabiënne Jansen
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How to spot (fake) experts By Nina Rooze & Fabiënne Jansen
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Initiatives during the pandemic By Rosa vd Vleuten & Jennifer Steenkamp
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A guide through the city of Tilburg: hotspots alert By Luca Vermeirssen
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Graduates tell their story By Julia Davidse & Luca Vermeirssen
TikTok: generation Y versus generation Z By Fabiënne Jansen, Rosa vd Vleuten & Laura van Houdt
Recap of the Flow year ‘19 - ‘20 By Jennifer Steenkamp & Rosa vd Vleuten
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HOW TO STYLE YOUR DORM ROOM?
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THE IKEA-SHOWROOM No, this is not really an Ikea showroom, but that is how my roommates and friends call my room. Like 90% of my things are from Ikea, from my bed to my cacti, my lamps, my placemats and even my laundry basket, dish brush and trash can. I even made my own make-up table out of their furniture. One remarkable thing that’s not from Ikea is my couch, which is from Leen Bakker. Of course there are more things which are not from Ikea, but those are just small things like my flowers, fragrance sticks and cutlery. Another thing my roommates notice is that I really like candles (many of them are also from Ikea, but also from other stores). They say I’m addicted and sometimes make fun of me, but I don’t blame them because I buy candles like every other week and I have a box full of just candles. Why not, right? I think they make it cozy and who doesn’t want a nice ambiance in their room? For a while I’ve been getting a little addicted to buying new pillows too. There are now six on my couch and three in my closet, but this way I can alternate them! I just really like to make my room cozy.
“My friends say I’m addicted to buying candles”
I have a few recommendations for shops to make your room cozy like mine. 1. I think you can guess it, but IKEA obviously. People often think of furniture when they talk about Ikea, but you also can get really nice accessories for your room, like scented candles, flowers, plants, lights, posters, picture frames, pillows and cuddly toys like the cute elephant on my bed. Unfortunately, there is no Ikea in Tilburg, but in Breda there is! You can get there in plus minus forty minutes with public transport, so what is stopping you from going? 2. Another recommendation is Casa! Some things might be a little more expensive than other stores, but they have such nice things. They have normal furniture and also the nicest decorations for your room, but just a little more special than say, from Ikea (must i say necessary with my Ikea-showroom haha). There is also a Casa-store on Pieter Vreedeplein, so if you don’t know what to do this afternoon? Just go there, you won’t regret it, I promise. 3. There are also a lot of other stores with nice decorations which are a little cheaper, which is not bad since most of us are just poor students. At Xenos, Hema and Blokker are also pretty things. I also got multiple things from there. When you like shopping online, bol.com is also a must.
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PLANTS
ARE HOT AS HELL! They make your room feel more cozy and pretty. Almost every student wants them, but taking care of a plant can be a real pain in the ass. Here some useful tips so you don’t have to say goodbye to your green amigos anymore. 1. Underwatering is better than overwatering! How do you know your plant is happy with its amount of water? Put your finger a few centimeters in the soil of your plant. If the dirt sticks to your finger, you don’t need to water it. When it doesn’t stick (or a little), it’s time for watering! If the soil has dried out, your plant might look sad, but it’ll bounce back once you water it. 2. Google your plant! This might sound like an open door, but it can be really helpful. Some plants need more light for example than others. By knowing it’s needs, it’ll become
easier to take care of your green friends. 3. Look at your plant! Take some time, every week to look at all your plants. Look for dead or yellow leaves, insects or other odd things. If you catch the problem early enough, you can tackle it well! 4. Sometimes, dead leaves are okay! Every now and then, a leaf will die. That’s completely normal, it’ll help your plant to direct more energy to the new leaves. So, you need to cut them off! 5. Some plants just die! It is definitely not always your fault! Some plants are sick when you get them, some plants just don’t work in your room. It’s okay if a plant dies. Remember, in order to master a skill (like keeping houseplants), you need to make mistakes. All plant moms and dads did!
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MY ROOM IS SMALL... ...but I’m glad to call it home With only the 10m2 I got, I tried to make the most out of it and made my room as cute as possible. You can find me every week in the city center searching for more stuff to fill up my room. Candles, flowers, picture frames, vases, lights, plants and more decoration. I throw everything that is gold or pastel in my shopping basket. My favourite to go shop is H&M home. They have got so many cute and special things, I always come home with something even though I did not need anything. Besides the fact that decoration and some green plants are essential in your student homes, it is also important to use all the space you got and use it as efficiently as possible, even with a room of 10m2 like mine it is possible! Here are some tips! 1. Before you go furniture and decoration shopping, make a sketch of your room and make sure you write down all measurements correctly. Try to find out beforehand where the best place is to put your bed, closet, table, chairs etc… You do not want to be faced with surprises later! 2. Choose one table as your desk and dinner table. Buy only one or two design chairs and buy folding
chairs if you want more chairs. It is very handy if there are not so many chairs around your table. Folding chairs are the solution, because you can put them away and grab them when you wish. 3. We all want a couch, but this does not always fit. Don’t be sad, because there is always a solution. What you can do best, is to buy as many pillows as possible and a bedspread, so you can use your bed as a seat for you and your friends. 4. Use the place under your bed as storage! Buy boxes that you can easily roll under your bed. Your stuff is in a closed box, so no dust on it! 5. Do you have built-in closets or other closets with nothing but clutter? Buy a curtain to cover the mess! It will calm the room, as you can throw all the junk behind the curtain when people come to visit you. Clean room in less than a minute! 6. Try to choose a colour frame for your room, so it won’t look so busy. I got pastel colours with a touch of gold. 7. Last but not least, if you have a small room it is important to not buy stuff you do not need or bring all your stuff with you from home. You simply don’t have the space. I must say that I struggle with this tip myself, but hey we can only try! 7
MEET THE THE NEW NEW BOARD BOARD MEET InFlow is very proud to present you the new board (!), but why introduce them if they can introduce each other?
Wouter about Ayleen: All the way from Hulst, Zeeland, she came to Tilburg: Ayleen Bogaerd. A tremendous treasurer with a truly blue-yellow heart. She has a huge passion for soup, and is proud of her Zeelandic roots. Most of all: sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always in for a good talk, and boy, she knows how to party!
Ayleen about Sydney: Sydney really is a sparkling spot on the board. She is diligent, ambitious and a hard worker. But besides that, this Limburger is known for her remarkable statements. Sydney will come up with her own new quote every day. Furthermore, this girl has a smile that makes you spontaneously cheerful, because if you would hear someone laughing very loud in our board, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll probably be Sydje.
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Sydney about Rein: Rein is our new External Affairs next year. Originally, he is from Pijnacker, but in the meantime he has become a true â&#x20AC;&#x153;Brabanderâ&#x20AC;?. If you would really know Rein, you would know that his greatest love in his life is his dog Saar, who is basically becoming the new mascot of Flow, if the decision was up to our Rein.
Rein about William: I have known William for just a little over a year, even though it feels like a lot longer. In this year he became my friend, my roommate and now my fellow boardmember, with the biggest heart for Flow. Sometimes people just match with you on another level.
William about Wouter: Wouter is our organized centipede, and no spelling error is safe near our pride from the far north: Winkel (store). He loves to make and eat a delicious grilled cheese sandwich. In his spare time Wouter also likes to play a spicy game of soccer and ride his racing bike!
SOME STATISTICS STATISTICS SOME We asked them to answer these questions about each other. We tallied up the scores and these are the results! - Who would do another board year after this one? Wouter - Who is the funniest? Sydney - Who is the most adventurous? Wouter - Who gets drunk the easiest? William - Who is the sweetest? Ayleen
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How have the first weeks been as a boardmember?
Rein: Great, really busy but the world doesn’t stop moving when there is a pandemic. I am having a lot of meetings with (potential) partners, the only difference is that most of them were online. The first weeks have been great, a lot of fun and have taught me a lot already. Ayleen: I get a lot of energy out of the work I have to do as a board member. I like to give structure to my tasks and more and more becomes clear about the tasks. It was also a bit of searching how we want to handle with the current situation, like finding an alternative for the Flowoffice. In the meantime, we have things in order and we are well attuned to each other as a board.
What are you looking most forward to this year?
William: Organizing activities again, seeing all new and existing member, having a lot of fun! Wouter: I’m really looking forward to the association weekend in may and the symposium, too! I’ll be the board buddy in these committees and I’m sure we’ll come up with some awesome and memorable events. Besides, I’m curious what kind of activities the study trip committee is going to organise this year!
What is the hardest part of a board year you think?
Rein: The realisation that sometimes you have to miss out on some parties and events #FOMO Sydney: For me the hardest part is stopping with working, since my work can be done from home very easily. For example, working on the website is possible on anytime I want, which makes it very tempting to promptly fix this or that, which eventually leads to you working on it for quite a while, without it being the intention. So that will be my personal challenge this year I suspect.
SOME STATISTICS STATISTICS SOME We asked them to answer these questions about each other. We tallied up the scores and these are the results! - Who is most likely to move to a foreign country? Wouter - Who is the most organised? Sydney - Who is most likely to forget a board member’s birthday? Rein - Who would first marry and have children? Ayleen - Who is (most likely to be) late for meetings? William
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AUGUST
22 | Flow in the dark 31 | Introduction weekend
OCTOBER
23 | Active members evening 24 | Theaters Tilburg company visit 30 | November drink
DECEMBER 19 | FMA: Pubcrawl
Undoubtedly the most exciting event this year was the Study Trip Drink. The suspense was tangible as we gradually worked through a ‘Wie is de Mol?’-esque mystery to figure out our destination: every step closer resulted in ecstatic cheering. As everyone regretfully knows, we couldn’t go to Edinburgh and Glasgow because of the current situation, but we thank the STC for their efforts and the success of this drink.
SEPTEMBER 20 | Hertog-Jan company visit 30 | FMA: Lasergaming
NOVEMBER 6 | Citytrip 13 | Company visit Indicia 20 | Sintercantus 27 | Charity Auction 27 | Study trip drink
Country Roads, take me home, to the place where Flow belongsss. Eins zwei drei, SAUFEN! Oh we miss those songs so much. The Sintercantus was such a nice evening. Sitting on the lap of Sinterklaas and getting your poem and presents. After that an ‘adtje’ follows. Hopefully we can all be together at the next cantus of Flow!
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JANUARY 3| Ski trip 8| New year’s drink 29| Ifactivity: Karaoke
MARCH 4 | March drink 6 | Family day
MAY
20 | Announcement candidate board read all about them on page 8
JULY
1 | End of the year party Sadly, the March drink was our last offline drink. But it wasn’t less fun! The theme was: anything but clothes. Dressed up as ikea bags, bed sheets or garbage bags we had the time of our lives at VHZ. And one of our Inflow girls got the prize for drunken rascal!
FEBRUARY 3| Visit station 88 3| Fma pubquiz 5| February drink 12| Committee battle 13| Cupiflow
APRIL
7| April drink 14| Easter egg hunt 21| Online Flow dinner
JUNE
17 | Online pubquiz
In April, our first online drink took place. As every first, it didn’t go without some trouble, but it was genuinely nice to see everyone again, drinking, chatting, and finally: singing and swaying to Brabant as we retreated from our digital bar.
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The incredible rise of
TikTok is one of the newest shortform video applications that has become extremely popular among Generation Z. It is an app for creating and sharing short videos with the world. The application has 800 million monthly active users and has been downloaded 2.3 billion times worldwide. Therefore, TikTok is the No. 1 downloaded app of 2020 so far. The app is the sixth largest social network currently and is therefore making headway on Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp. TikTok is available in 154 countries in 75 different languages and is highly popular in many Asian countries, such as India and China. Almost half of all TikTok users are aged between 16 and 24. Users seem to be loyal and keep on returning to the app: 90% of users use TikTok multiple times a day. But why is this application so popular? The idea of producing short videos
or clips in an application first emerged with Vine in 2012. In this application, around 200 million monthly users created their own short videos. Vine gained worldwide popularity but got discontinued by Twitter in 2016. Two years later, in January 2018, TikTok was launched. TikTok is the result of two existing apps (Musical.ly and Douyin) that got merged by the Chinese company ByteDance. It allows users to sing, dance, act, or mime audio clips or pre-recorded songs. The app thrives off trending hashtags and challenges. These challenges are community-led and the idea is that people copy the challenge and create their own unique version of it. Challenges that are picked up by celebrities or that include a song from a famous artist gain more attention and carry the most momentum. But what makes it so appealing to watch these videos?
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Young people crave micro-entertainment and short bursts of distraction. That is exactly what TikTok offers: short, fun and trendy videos between 10 and 60 seconds long. The TikTok algorithm offers an endless thread of new videos to watch, which makes the app highly addictive. By following other accounts, people create their own
Silvie
feed including videos from the creators they most enjoy. However, there is also a ‘’For You’’ feed that shows you a random selection of videos from others that you would not usually watch. As a result of this, even users with the smallest following have the possibility to go viral with their videos.
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Silvie is a fanatic tiktok user, like a big part of her generation. She tells us more about her experience with tiktok. “The reason I got tiktok on my phone, is because of the fact that the musical.ly app changed its name and format. So, actually I did not specifically download tiktok. I did enjoy the app though. Not only watching tiktoks, but making them is fun as well (I do not post them though). The kind of tiktoks I enjoy to make are certain dances that go viral on well-known songs and also comics with friends. During the day I use tiktok a lot, it’s just so addicting I can’t help it… I think it’s just that the content is so enjoyable and also relatable (blame the algorithm). Sometimes I also find cool lifehacks via tiktoks and it’s really fun to keep finding those. The reason I think that tiktok is more something of our generation is the fact that it first was musical.ly. A lot of teenagers were on this app and used it. Now, they all are on tiktok as well and most of the content is therefore created by this generation. This causes the target group to be of the same age, because it’s just more relevant to them. Almost all of my friends are on tiktok, there are only a few exceptions. The thing about tiktok is that it just gives you a feeling that you’re not alone in certain things. The bad thing about tiktok though, is that you unconsciously put a lot of time in it…”
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INITIATIVES DURING THE PANDEMIC Bodhi Zouteriks is 19 years
old and is a medical student in Nijmegen. He volunteered at ONS soepje, an organisation founded in the beginning of quarantine. ONS soepje prepares and delivers dinner to people living in Tilburg who canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take care of that themselves. He started with just helping for a day but ended up contributing for 25 weeks. While quarantined, he wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t motivated to study at all, and he wanted to help others. Through Serve The City, he found out about ONS soepje. Bodhi said the work was fulfilling as you could see the impact firsthand and the team became really close. He was also in a vital function, which meant that he could go outside. He was less happy with the rising pressure as less students came to help. Because of the start of the academic year, he stopped, even though he was able to balance it well with his studies before summer break.
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Bodhi would recommend volunteering to everyone, as the fact that it’s voluntary makes the atmosphere incredibly fun (and because it looks good on your resumé)!
Robin is 20 years old and used
to make transparent facemasks with her dad in the beginning of the crisis. Because her dad repairs cars, they had more access to materials and tools. Robin says that that’s what made her feel the best about it all: the fact that she could use that access to help people that didn’t. The initiative didn’t take off as much as they’d hoped though: when Robin and her dad had provided their hometown and surrounding areas, there seemed to be little interest for the facemasks, which is why they quit their efforts after a couple of months. Robin says that it didn’t interfere with her work and studies at all, and that it was actually quite a relaxing pastime. Because they mostly sent the facemasks via mail, she didn’t fear contamination too much. According to Robin, it’s been a rewarding experience and she recommends anyone who has the means to help others, to do so.
admits that making the bracelets gets boring really quickly. She says that making the bracelets does interfere with her schoolwork but that it’s her own fault, as she chooses to make the bracelets instead of doing her homework. Kimberly chose to make bracelets because she used to work for a small jewellery webstore and realised that she could use this experience to raise money. She didn’t fear contamination because she shipped the bracelets by mail. She says that even if she wouldn’t recommend making bracelets specifically, she does want people to realise that there’s a lot of ways you can help that you don’t immediately think of.
Kimberly is a 16-year old living in Eindhoven who has been making and selling bracelets since the start of the crisis to raise money. She alternates her donations between the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders. She likes feeling useful but
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(Fake) experts? Have you ever read the comment section below a news item on Facebook? Did you notice how confident most people are about their knowledge? Or did it occur to you that when experts talk about a particular topic, they are often humble and aware of the fact that there is much more to learn? This all can be explained by the DunningKruger effect. And in 2020, with COVID-19, the upcoming presidential elections in America and the Black Lives Matter movement, this might be the right time to understand how this works. Dunning-Kruger Effect In short, the Dunning-Kruger Effect explains the tendency for unskilled people to be overconfident in their abilities. However, it also works the other way around: highly skilled people tend to underestimate their abilities. In the graph below, it is shown how the least experienced and least knowledgeable people are overconfident. As these people donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know what they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know, they are more likely to overestimate their knowledge. On the other hand, the more knowledge you gain about a topic, the more aware you will become that you will never fully understand the issue. These people know that they will never know all the information available. Therefore, people with a high level of knowledge in their field will never reach the same level of confidence as people with a low level of knowledge, even though they gained much more knowledge already.
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2020: the year of information overload I think we all agree that 2020 has been hectic so far. We haven’t even reached the end of the year and we have witnessed a couple of extreme and rare global issues already. To name some examples, we’ve dealt with the Australian bushfires in January, followed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Black Lives Matter protests and the American elections. These events are major and therefore highly discussed on tv, social media and in newspapers. As there is so much information available about these topics, we might feel overwhelmed and experience an information overload, which causes feelings of anxiety and mental fatigue. Black Lives Matter movement If we look at the way in which people deal with the information about the Black Lives Matter movement, we can see that people handle the information in different ways. Some people experience an information overload which causes them to cut themselves off from the millions of sources that provide information about the issue. These people stick to their own opinions and confined knowledge. They simply don’t know what they don’t know and they will not become aware of how complex the issue is. According to the Dunning-Kruger Effect, these people will become overconfident and overestimate their knowledge. On the other hand, there are people who want to dig deeper into the material and want to gain as much information about the issue as possible. These people will find out that the issue is very comprehensive and that it can be faced from multiple perspectives. Even though these people have more knowledge, the DunningKruger effect explains that they will be less confident about their knowledge than the less knowledgeable people and that they underestimate their abilities. What can we do? How do we deal with the information overload, and how do we make sure we stay well-informed? It is very important to keep learning! As soon as you start learning about a specific topic, you will realize how little you actually knew before. How do you learn? Read. It is very tempting to only read information that supports your own perspective on the issue, but try to read information that questions your point of view too. By not only seeking confirmation for your own position, you will create a more accurate and complete understanding of the topic.
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TILBURG
August 2020 was for a lot of people the start of their new student life in Tilburg. With the coronavirus among us, introduction weeks like TOPweek were different than normal. Because of this you maybe did not get to be everywhere or experience everything that is fun in Tilburg. To help you enjoy your student life to the fullest, we from inFlow got 15 tips to make your stay in Tilburg nothing but fun. Hopefully it’s possible again soon. When it is again, follow these tips for the best places in Tilburg! 1. Sadly, studying at the university is not really an option, so where to go now? Not such a long time ago the LocHal opened his doors in the Spoorzone. It is a very impressive building where you can study and meet other students. There is also a library! You can spontaneously walk in and see if there are any working areas left to study, read the newspaper or have a cup of coffee.
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If you really want to be sure of a spot in a quiet surrounding, you can also reserve a study cabin. You can meet there with your friends, but make sure to stick to the five feet. 2. If you’re looking for a cosy lunch café to study, Buutvrij is the place to go! You can find them in the Stationsstraat. They have a really delicious menu for breakfast and lunch and besides that, a very nice interior where it feels like home. Behind the café they have a bright inner garden to relax and behind this there is 19
a workingplace. A very cool industrial space, fully equipped to study, meet and work. Go check it out! 3. Is it a sunny day and you want to meet up with friends? Go to the Spoorpark. Here you can have a cosy picnic in a very green environment. I guarantee you will have fun! 4. Studentlife is not all about studying so letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s go to some nice places where you can drink or eat. The Piushaven is a must to visit here in Tilburg. There are so many nice restaurants along the water. A beautiful place to sit and enjoy the view. A favourite of many is Restaurant Rak! Another place where you can find a lot of fun cafes and restaurants is the Piusplein. Drink a beer or cocktail on one of the many terraces, like Brandpunt or Bolle and you sure will have a fun night out! Where the terraces are also always full, is De korte heuvel. Here are also a lot of cafes, so I say: time for a pub crawl! 5. More in the mood for a party and lots of music? CafĂŠ Philip in de korte heuvel organises silent disco nights. You have to sit at a table due to the corona measurements, but that does not spoil the fun. A silent disco night is always a good recipe for fun. They also organise high wines, high beers and high cocktails where you get these drinks and snacks for a reasonable price. 6. Then my favourite pub in all of Tilburg, is cafe De Boekanier. Here it is always time for fun. For 25 euros you can drink an unlimited amount of beer and wine for two and a half hours and play the most funny games. They also have the famous wheel to spin, where you can win free drinks! Your lucky number has to be six, because then you will win fifteen beers! Have fun! 7. Fancy a day at the beach?
Go to Beachy! There is a beach in the middle of the city, where you can relax with your feet in the sand and a drink in your hand. They organise great activities like silent discos, movie nights, live music and terrace festivals. You can do so much at Beachy, you can even play midgetgolf! 8. Fancy a bit more excitement on your day off? Go to Doloris! They got a rooftop bar with amazing drinks and food and a Meta Maze! It is the largest art maze in the world, with more than 40 rooms full of mysterious objects and hidden passageways 9. When you have the urge to shop and spend some money, you will find the most stores in the Heuvelstraat and at the Pieter Vreedeplein.
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10. At Stappegoor you also have a lot to do, like catching a movie at Euroscoop or going for a swim in the pool! 11. A safari in the middle of Tilburg? Not exactly, but only a 30 minute bike ride away to the Beekse Bergen at Hilvarenbeek! Who wouldn’t give that to see a couple of lions and tigers? 12. Playing games is always a good idea and that is what you can do at the gaming factory! At this game hall you can play arcade and retro games for two hours for a price of fifteen euro per person. Maybe a good idea for a date with that cute boy or girl? 13. As they say, “The plays to be” is at De Dolfijn. Here you can do escape rooms, bowling, glow in the dark midget golf, private karaoke and play a lot of arcade games. Something for everyone, so get your group of friends together and go to De Dolfijn! 14. Nondejeu! Here you can play jeu de boules, try to escape from prison island and play a lot of board games at the bar. You can go there with both small and large groups. 15. Last but not least I want to share my favourite lunch/dinner places with you. If you have a hangover, you have to go to Lunchcafe Nieuwland and eat their famous tosti. It contains a lot of cheese, both in it and on it, which will help you to get rid of your hangover as quickly as possible. Next Buutvrij is my favorite lunch place and I always get the toast with egg salad and serrano ham, just delicious! Anvers is also always a good place to eat or have a drink with friends. Restaurant Rak has a very special and tasty menu, with a look over the water. You can eat lunch or dinner here. To have dinner with my friends, “La Cubanita” is always a good option. For a fixed
price you can enjoy delicious tapas dishes in a super nice cuban atmosphere. For the noodle lovers, Xu Noodle Bar serves delicious noodle and rice bowls and very delicious dumplings! Go to “Eetcafé 190” for the best spareribs of tilburg and “The Cats Back” for the best hamburgers and tacos. Enjoy! There is so much to do in Tilburg, a lot more than the 15 tips I wrote above. We know some of them might not be possible by the time you’re reading this, but keep them in mind for the time everything opens up again! A tip for all of you is to follow “Tilburgcom” for the latest news and events in Tilburg and follow “Waartilburgeet” for all the delicious and new places to eat and drink in Tilburg. Have fun in Tilburg!
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Besides enjoying our student life to
the fullest, our other biggest goal is getting our degree and starting a job we love. But does this all go just the way we want or is it not that simple? To answer this question we asked Evi and Ramon for an interview about their life after graduation. They both followed the bachelor communication and information sciences. Evi is 24 years old, originally from Breda and she has been living in Tilburg for six years now. She followed the master business communication and digital media and graduated in February 2019. Ramon is 23 years old and originally from Tilburg. He followed the master Data Science. Keep reading to find out more about their life after graduation! How does it feel to be graduated? Was it hard to go from ‘student life’ to ‘real life’? Evi: At first I was scared that the ‘working life’ would be boring and I would miss the student life, but I forgot that you can meet really nice colleagues and that makes working more fun. Also, the company I’m working at organizes a lot of parties and drinks, which makes the transition less hard. Besides that, it’s delightful that you really have weekend on the weekends, since there are no deadlines and papers you have to think about on your days off. Ramon: I just graduated so I’m not ready to look for a job yet, but I already notice that it is quite a big step to go to the world of grownups. Although, I must say it feels
pretty good to have finished university! How did you distinguish yourself on the job market? Evi: I think my active student life really contributed on distinguishing myself. My board year at Flow, my exchange and my role in the participation council made me who I am now and made more clear to myself what I like and what I’m good at. That’s really important when you are looking for a job. Ramon: Early on in my study, I realized it’s important to work on your personal branding. That’s why I started focusing on the technical side of communication during my bachelor. I wanted to be the bridge between the technical side and the business side. During my master’s in Data Science I wanted to exhibit my communication side by focusing on how I could deliver a message best with the help of Data Visualization. Besides that, I did a lot of things next to my study to boost my CV, like doing a board year at Flow!
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Did you experience some difficulties while looking for a job during COVID-19? Evi: I got my job in March 2019 so COVID didn’t cause difficulties. Ramon: Sadly, I noticed that the supply of fun jobs has decreased because of the current crisis. Also, I would like it better when the job applications would be in real life instead of through a video call. Do you have a job at this moment? If so, what do you do and how did you get there? If not, what kind of job are you looking for and how do you plan to get there? Evi: At the moment I’m working as a Campaign Operations Specialist at Greenhouse. I knew Greenhouse from a company-visit from Flow and from then on I thought it would be fun to work there and I was sure I wanted to apply there. That went very smooth and now I’m working there. What does it entail? I work in teams who are taking care of the online marketing from Pon (Volkswagen, Porsch etc.) and Kruidvat. Ramon: I’m currently looking for a job in research and development. This means that I would like to get started to discover and make new things, or to optimize existing things. What do you miss most after graduating? What do you recommend to all our readers during their student life? Evi: Enjoy all your endless spare time! Enjoy all your mornings you can sleep in and the weekday evenings where you can stay up as late as
you want. Besides that, I recommend to do as much as possible during your student time; it’s the perfect time to develop on every part. And last but not least: don’t be scared when you are not sure about what you want to do after graduating, it’s your first job and that doesn’t have to be your dream job already. So take your time, learn a lot at those companies and you will find out what your dream job really is. Ramon: A top three of things I’m going to miss the most is 1) to get up at 1pm and get sober at the Flowchamber, 2) Doner Company and 3) learning new things during college. And now a top three tips for during your student time. 1) Get active! It’s the best way to make friends, have a fun time and boost your CV, 2) Get your own student room! Grant yourself some freedom and independence. And last but not least, 3) Drink a can of energy in the shower, it sounds weird, but it really is chill.
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