Storm

It feels a bit sad to write this blog, as it is one of my last duties for Storm. I am now what we used to call a Stoma (short for Storm-oma, which means Storm grandma). Over the past four years, my life was dominated by lectures, exams, committee meetings, trips, excursions, parties and random craving sessions in the middle of the night. You could say that I am an expert to what student life is like or should be like. As my student life now is temporarily over (I am taking a gap year before starting a master next year) some of you just started. Therefore, I will give you my best tips on how to make these years the best years of your life.

Tip 1. While having the time of your life, make sure to study.

This one seems logic but can be hard to put into practice. At the end of the day, you came to Utrecht to get a diploma. But, it can happen now and then that your night endures longer than planned, and those lecture seats do seem really comfy the day after. If you expect that the sleep will take over, choose a seat at the end of the room where you can easily take a nap without notice of your teacher. I once experienced that two fellow students fell asleep right in his sight, which was reason enough for him to finish his lecture and leave. There is also that great story of one teacher who threw a pen at a student for taking a nap (I have witnesses who can confirm this story). For more tips about how to sleep in class, check this site: http://www.wikihow.com/Sleep-in-Class. However, my message is not that you should take naps during lectures, but that it is important to study. The rules have become stricter over the past years – no study finance, BSA, an average grade of 7.0 to enter a master – so some hard work is required. Try to figure out your study path as soon as possible, especially when you want to go abroad. And if you receive a good grade for an exam, you have to celebrate!

Tip 2. Make friends for a lifetime

When you have finished your study, you’ll probably end up with a bunch of new friends. Some of them will disappear when you get older, but there are always those few people that are so important to you that you will stay in contact with them for decades to come. It is relatively easy to find people at your study that you connect with, after all you share much interest and you experience a lot together. If you want to find new friends, all you have to do is get involved. Join a committee, go to activities, register for the foreign trip of Storm (it’s really cool yes) and you will never eat your dinner alone as there is always something going on.   

Tip 3. Have fun, but don’t be an assh*le.

This is an important one. Just because you are very very drunk sometimes and everything seems funny, it will not always evoke the same emotions with others. Last weekend a group of drunk and carnaval-like-dressed  students (more about that is found here) was leaving the same train as I did at the Utrecht Central Station when one guy of the group decided to gently put his empty beer tin in the middle of the stairs were I walked. This is of course not a smart move when an environmentlover (or milieugekkie) is walking right beside you, so I kindly asked him to move his beer tin to the trash can a few meters beyond. As a reaction he ran away to join the group that was loudly singing horrible songs that I will not repeat here. Unfortunately there are even worse scenarios. Members of the Groninger Studenten Corps "Vindicat atque Polit" received bad publicity last year when a bangalist (that rated girls on their sexual skills) leaked out and a first-year was sent to the hospital with a brain injury when someone stood on his head as part of the introduction. This month our beloved friend from the high north were said to have demolished a sushi restaurant. This news is however denied by the association. My point is, that whatever you do, always respect others. It is just not okay to call girls whores, throw your garbage on the ground or steal traffic signs or other public goods. I have introduced one check to make sure you are not off limit: if you are drunk and you pass a policeman, yell some crazy stuff and check in they can still laugh about it. Tricky part is that if they don’t you might spend the night in another room than planned (not in the good way).

To conclude, I wish you all a very happy, healthy and instructive year! And enjoy, because before you know it’s over.

* Pictures are from 2014 trip to Scotland & England