Laura (contact person degree students)

Good luck with the exams!

First of all, I want to wish you good luck with the exams! If you haven't found a good place to study yet, I would recommend to visit 'De Krook', Ghent city's library. They have many study places and a nice bar where you can drink a coffee during that well-deserved break on their lovely terrace. During the weekends, you might find me with my family there as well :-)

If you have any questions or problems during the exam period, don't hesitate to contact me. I'm here to help in the best way I can, answering your questions and solving your problems. No need for stress!

First semester

It seems ages ago since we started the first semester in September last year. Some of you (students who enrolled for the first time this academic year) attended the Welcome Days. During the information session and the guided tour on the faculty, we tried to provide you with as much practical information as possible. For me, this was a very busy period but also very pleasant since I got to meet all the students who I've only spoken with through email and could finally get to know you. I hope you enjoyed the Welcome Days as well and felt like this was a good start for your academic career at Ghent University. However, don't hesitate to let me know if you have any suggestions, I'm always open to feedback and would love to hear about your ideas.

I'm aware that the start of the academic year is also very stressful for students, especially for the non-European students who need a visa in order to travel to Belgium, which frequently causes problems to arrive here in time. I know that several of you missed the opportunity to participate in the Welcome Days because of problems with obtaining the visa in time and as a consequence arrived late. If you really feel like you would like to experience a "normal" start next academic year, just let me know and I can send you an invitation for next year's Welcome Days. It would be great to have a mix of new students and re-enrolling students during these days.

Social integration

The past few years, we noticed that events or activities organised "by students, for students" seem to be more popular than events or activities organised by the faculty. Our student association VEK (Vlaams Economische Kring, Dutch for Flemish Economic Circle) already had several committees who are responsible for events, the faculty's book sale, etc. A few years ago, they also set up an international committee in order to work on the social integration of all international students here at the faculty. This committee now organises events specifically for international students on a weekly basis. Personally, I think it would be more interesting to organise events for both Dutch and international students combined, to work even more on that social integration. This isn't always easy since most Dutch students already know each other since first bachelor and it's not easy to enter those close friendship groups. We keep looking for ways to make your integration go as smooth as possible so I hope you were able to attend at least some of their activities. I know the study load is high and I was told several times that you don't have enough free time to attend these activities. Don't be so hard on yourself and enjoy your time here at the faculty! Take time to get to know the Dutch students and your fellow international students. These activities are intended as a first step to bring you in touch with other students. If you do that, I'm sure you will make friends for life. And this could be a(nother) reason to return to our beautiful city in the future for a reunion! ;-)

Communication

Sometimes, I find it difficult to know which is the best way to stay in touch with all students. We have Facebook, a WhatsApp group, your UGent email address, Ufora,... But I understand that you are overloaded with information through all these channels. That's why I started this international newsletter this academic year. I hope it was clear that this email was sent by me and that I was able to provide you with a lot of useful information.

I was really pleasantly surprised that I was able to find so many students who were willing to write a testimonial each month. The amount of information and tips that you shared with each other was really nice to read (including for me). I think I can say that the first edition of the international newsletter was a success, I hope we will be able to keep working together on this in the next academic year!

Finally...

I know, my testimonial is pretty short and nowhere near the amazing testimonials some of you have been writing the past academic year (for which I want to give a big thank you again!). I hope by now you have found your way at the faculty and enjoy the student life in Ghent.

I can't say this enough: if you have any questions, you know where to find me!