If everything goes well, Nijmegen will soon have its own international student association. Two students are working on a Nijmegen section of the global association ESN. 'Activities for internationals are still very scattered.'

Students Annika Schiefner (25, German, master programme language and education) and Lisette te Hennepe (24, Dutch, master communication and information studies) are working hard on establishing a section of ESN in Nijmegen. ESN stands for ‘Erasmus Student Network’ and is an organisation that has section all over Europe, and sometimes even outside it. The Netherlands has sixteen of those sections, but Nijmegen still has to do without it until now. ‘Allegedly there has been an ESN Nijmegen’, says Schiefner. ‘But nobody seems to know more about that than the vague rumour that something happened with the treasurer.’ According to the two, it is about time that an association combines all the activities for international students in one place. ‘When we did a survey amongst international students, many of them said they know about ESN and often, they were very enthusiastic.’

‘Dutch students and internationals live very separated’

‘There are many local initiatives in Nijmegen, there is a lot to do for international students’, says Te Hennepe. ‘But they are very scattered. We want to create a clear spot, also for Dutch students who, like me, like to hang out with internationals.’ Because that is the most important thing, bring all students together. ‘Dutch students and internationals live very separated. In the new association, we will also pay attention to integration, by adding a ‘buddy and integration’ committee’, says Te Hennepe. Before they can start, the Dutch ESN still has to approve the Nijmegen initiative. ‘We now have a temporary website and we are working on the legal and financial side of things’, says Schiefner. ‘Not until we are an official candidate section, can we use ESN’s name in our promotion.’

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Three times a year, ESN Netherlands organises a ‘national platform’. During that meeting, it will become clear if Schiefner and Te Hennepe can go ahead whit their plans. If so, they will name the association ISN Nijmegen. ‘With the name, we want to show that the association is for all international students, not just for Erasmus students. Within ESN, many varieties are possible. The Tilburg section is called I*ESN, for example’, says Te Hennepe. The association will have several committees, like ‘Party and Pubquiz’, and ‘Cultural exchange’. The students also want to pay attention to possible problems internationals face. ‘For this, we want to work together with student psychologists’, says Schiefner. ‘Internationals also experience stress and problems, but the groups that are established to talk about these problems, are often not in English. I want to work on that.’

In Tilburg, where Schiefner and Te Hennepe both follow a part of their study programme, I*ESN has its own bar in the center. Is that something that could happen in Nijmegen? ‘It would be fun, right? But we want to be approachable at the start. If we decide to find a bar immediately, you have to ask for a lot of money from the members. We want to be open for everybody.’