Marie Linke- promotion 2018/2019
1. Why did you decide to do a board year at Stimulus?
The first time I noticed Stimulus was through friends who wanted to encourage me to become more active at university and who were former board members.
I was too shy to apply for a board year with my study association complex, so this seemed less intimidating as it is more formal and gives you more insight into the day-to-day life of staff
members at our faculty.
Further, during that time as a first year my year was struggling with the mandatory 20 hours of experimental subject hours as there were only few English studies conducted. So, I generated over
80 people with the same problem to complain to stimulus and as a result everyone could pass these experimental subject hours.
2. What was your function within the board and which tasks did you like the most and why?
I joined Stimulus with a very open mind and ended up in the position of Promotion. This was very new to me and really showed me how much effort goes into promoting an organization.
Apart from your own position there are weekly meetings with the board and then one school council per month which helped me to think more critically about documents that were sent and how
implementing certain ideas can impact daily life at university as well as the process behind even very small changes!
3. What are the most important lessons you learned from your board year at Stimulus?
Before my board year I was very afraid to get out of my comfort zone and to pursue my own goals. Therefore, I already put myself out there just by joining. Through the position I had within
stimulus I connected with a lot of people from different associations I usually wouldn’t get in touch with. Further, the other members of my board were always so open and gave very constructive
feedback. Therefore, I had a great learning experience and made many new friends along the way.
Another great part of the board year was the two-day training we got in the beginning of the year where we learned more about our own personalities and how we would work as a team.
And through the year we had the opportunity to meet with a work and organizational psychologist to work on myself and how I can be more assertive and integrate myself more within a team.
4. Have you encountered any challenges during your board year, could you tell us why (not) and how you dealt with this?
In the beginning of my board year I tried to solve all the problems and questions I had on my own but I quickly realized how much my fellow board members also enjoyed helping me out and giving me
feedback. Further, I really had to assert myself in the school council every month because everyone has their own agenda, so if I wanted to get my goal or opinion across I had to speak my mind
and get my arguments in line which helped tremendously with my argumentation skills.
Apart from that I did not encountered challenges as my fellow board members were very professional to work with and we could address issues immediately and work on them in a team.
5. What are your future plans and what aspects of your board year do you think you can use in the future in both your personal and business life?
At the moment I am thinking of pursuing a masters in work and organizational psychology and not in another field because this board year really showed me which aspects this work includes and how
fun and challenging it can be!
Further, my board year really gave me the boost in confidence I needed to follow my dreams.
6. What would you say to your younger self who hasn’t started the board year yet?
I would tell my younger self to not shy away from new challenges and just try new things. To be open to new experiences, to making friends and building a network as well as to grow more than I thought I ever could within a year!
Youri Spapens- Chairman 2018/2019
1. Why did you decide to do a board year at Stimulus.
First of all, in the academic year 2016-2017 I was a board member at Versot (study association for Sociology) and my chairman was a part of Stimulus, so I had some insight. For me personally, I saw Stimulus as a good way to move on and to learn more about the possibilities you have as a student. Stimulus in general looked very interesting to me, because I really liked the possibility to actually have a say in policies regarding the TSB faculty! To be able to do this, as a student, I thought was quite remarkable.
2. What was your function within the board and which tasks did you like the most and why?
Well… I’ve had two functions within Stimulus as mentioned before. I was a general board member in the academic year 2017-2018 and the chairman in the academic year 2018-2019.
In my first year I really enjoyed the meetings with the University Council members, just before our own School Councils. These meetings helped me understand a lot of documents more clearly, which
helped me in my further Stimulus career. Also, these meetings in general were very nice to do!
As a chairman I really liked to see my own board members grow. Giving them certain tasks which they ought to struggle with, to also let them grow professionally. And ofcourse the great atmosphere
within my board made my time as a chair worthwhile.
3. What are the most important lessons you learned from your board year at Stimulus (in terms of personal achievements, team performances, and uni related things)
For me personally, one of the most important lessons that I’ve learned is: Hard work and proactivity pays off! Being proactive, and actually also being able to cope with the work that you get, can be SO useful in general. So: don’t just do your job… If you have spare time, help other people, and you will be rewarded!
4. Have you encountered any challenges during your board year, could you tell us why (not) and how you dealt with this?
One of the bigger challenges I dealt with in my first board year was about the harmonization of the TER (Teaching and Examination Regulation). In the University Forum meeting (All School Council and University Council parties), we formulated a couple of ideas which we would like to see in all TERs from every School (harmonized). If this didn’t happen, we were willing to reject the TER presented in our School Council. One problem, the TER in our school (TSB) already had every idea formulated in it. So the dilemma was, do we reject our TER, even though our TER is perfectly fine? After making a lot of phone calls for advice, we decided to approve our TER, since it would seem unfair to the Examination Committee who did a perfectly good job.
5. What are your future plans and what aspects of your board year do you think you can use in the future in both your personal and business life?
Currently I’m the Student Assessor (Advisor) for the Management Team of TSB and I already use a lot of things which I learned during my Stimulus years. For instance, how to lead in certain situations, where a leader is necessary. How to have proper professional meetings and behave accordingly in these meetings. Personally, my years in Stimulus allowed me to acquire a more in-depth view on how a big organization like a university works. Something like this, I think is very valuable to obtain during your studies.
6. What would you say to your younger self who hasn’t started the board year yet?
I know you have doubts! But come on, it looks great right? Believe me… It was great!