Dutch students and international students are often separated during the orientation week. Logistically, it was not possible to arrange this any other way, says the head of the International Office, Wessel Meijer. 'We do hope to put them together next year'.

Björn Madsen comes from Denmark, and he pulls out all the stops to mingle with the Dutch. He has thought himself how to speak Dutch and he writes words he does not know yet on his arm, as a reminder. However: his mentor group only consists of internationals. That’s a shame, he thinks. Because this way, it’s a lot harder to blend in.

‘Already, they have some activities together’

The head of the International Office, Wessel Meijer, understands Madsens disappointment. ‘It’s true that the mentor groups are still separate in case of the exchange students and the master students, so in about half of the cases. That’s because these international students have to attend classes like “how does the education system in The Netherlands work” or “how do you open a bank account”. Logistically, it is not possible to let them attend the same programme as the Dutch students.’

Solution
International students do already see their Dutch counterparts a lot more than before, because many parts of the programme correspond. The new festival, for example. ‘Already, they have some activities together’, says Meijer. And the Bachelor’s students are already in mixed groups. But next year, International Office also hopes to place the exchange and master students among Dutch people in the mentor groups. ‘We are looking into a solution for this. Maybe we can make more individual programmes. We will work hard on this.’