It is a Wednesday afternoon in the common room of Plexus and we find seven of the eight representatives of the International Students Network (ISN) board members of Leiden University. They just attended the opening of International House and so everyone is very well dressed. Luckily for us, when we find them they are just hanging out. Thanos is playing the piano pretending he is singing at the same time, Elize and Mark are eating and making jokes, Magdalena is stressed about an unfinished academic paper and Amber is in a rush to catch a train to Gouda to have dinner with her grandparents. Lizeth is coming in and out of the common room and unfortunately Olga is missing Ibecause she is on a trip to Malaysia.
We first talk to Thanos, the President of the ISN board.Thanosis from Greece and he is presently studying for two masters at Leiden University one in Art and Film Photography and the other in Media Technology. Last year he was the housing officer of ISN-I and he has sincebecome the president.
-So Thanos what do you do in ISN? -I am the president of the International Student Network (ISN) and I am responsible for everybody, I guess. I am also the supervisor of our lovely Music club.
-What are the expectations for this year? -Mainly to have fun! Hahaha! We want to organize good things for the students and promote the multicultural aspect of LeidenUniversity!
-People would like to get to know the ISN a bit more. Can you explain briefly how the ISN works? -ISN is the result of the merging from the previous organizations (ISN-I and ISN-R). It is an eight member executive board. Fifty per cent of them are internationals and fifty per cent are Dutch. Together, we operate ten different committees and organize more than sixteen activities per semester, such as theater club, cooking club etc. Whoever would like to find out more about us and our activities is more than welcomed to talk to us. You can find us at the common room in Plexus on Monday to Thursday between 15.00-19.00hrs, or even better every Wednesday night at Einstein’s. Very useful is also our web page on facebook, where one can be updated about our parties, events and excursions we organize.
-I have seen a lot of students holding an ESN card. What is this card?- First of all by acquiring the ESN card you automatically become a member of the International Exchange Student Network (IESN). Secondly you get discount for all events. The card coasts 3€ and you can get it from the common room in Plexus.
-What was your motivation for becoming involve in ISN? -I got Involved in ISN because I believe we can improve the life of the international students. I like organizing and making events. It is always better to use your creativity in a multicultural environment. I guess it spices it up! After all I like partying and having fun with all of you.
Amber is Dutch she is pursuing a Masters in Public Administration- Public Policy and Lobbying. Despite being Dutch Amber has been involved with ISN since early 2011 she was one of the organizers of the Cultural Festival in June 2011. This year she is the Promotion Officer on the ISN Board.
-Why did you get involved with ISN? - I missed the introduction days at the start of term so in order to make contact I searched the web to see what was available in the Leiden student community, and found the ISN-R site and I realized they organized activities such as the cultural festival, I made contact and I realized they were cool people and so I became a member. Also I am from the south of Holland and they did not have such activities for international students.
-What do you hope to see ISN achieve this year? -To create a nice social environment for international students that will help to balance their academic life. It would also be nice to have a weekly social clubs or outlets for cultural exchange among international students.
We then interrupt Elize and Mark from their lovely meal. Elize is half Dutch and half Portuguese. She is doing her bachelor in Political Sciences and she is the Activities Officer, along with Magdalena, and she is in charge of the Vox newspaper.
-Is it the first time that you work in such a position and why did you apply as a board member? -No I am a member of fraternity and I have some experience. I always wanted to interact with international students and other cultures. Most of the times the work that you do here is appreciated, plus it is not needed to wear suits.
-What would you tell the readers of VOX?-Read it carefully!
Mark gets in on the discussion as well. He is half Dutch and half Taiwanese and he is doing his bachelors in Medicine. He is the Mentor coordinator and responsible for the IT. What distinguishes him from the rest is that in fact he is the only single member of the board!
-Why did you apply for the ISN? -I arrived from Dubai where I have been living for many years as an international student so I was aware of the ISN immediately, especially because one of my best friends, Johan, was last year president of ISN-I. I also have been a mentor three times since January 2010. It seemed to me fun and a place where I could do something useful.
-What is your position in ISN? -I do the mentor program. I am the contact person for everyone new coming in Leiden and I e-mail them in order to welcome them and help them with whatever they need. This year’s introduction days we had 37 mentors and 350 students participating.
-What do you believe about ISN-I and ISN-R becoming one? -I am in favor of it! When I first came I did not understand the difference. I noticed that the international community had split up in two and in the end both organizations did not benefit because of the lack of people.
Olga is 23 years old and she is studying Medicine and. She says she would not like to become a doctor but rather do a master in psychology. She is the Treasurer of the ISN and also helps organizing events. “I am doing the budgets and the overviews of the money, so it is kind of boring and I try to help as much as possible the rest of the board on organizing our events”, she says. She is also a huge fun of Mariah Carey, something that should be mentioned in case you want to make her happy or thank her for the drinks she bought you last night in Einstein’s.
Why did you apply for becoming a member of the ISN board? I would like to help the international students in any way that I can, in order to create nice events and meanwhile give the opportunity to students to do things they would do at their countries. So Leiden feels like home.
What do you believe about the merging of ISN-R and ISN-I? It is great! From my last year experience, that I was in the ISN-R board, I realized that this division was not working so well. The two boards were not able to communicate properly! Thus there is the problem that this year we overcame.
How is it working out with the rest of the board? We have fun together. Sometimes we do have our quarrels, but we solve them afterwards and it makes us an even stronger team.
What would you like to be accomplished by the end of the academic year? I would like for all the comities to have fines results. For example the theater club to present a nice act and the cooking club to have a big final cooking night. Basically I would like for all the international students to go back to their home with nice feelings, thinking that they did something and keep in contact with most of the people they met here.
What would you like to say to readers of VOX? I love you guys!
It is Wednesday night and we are standing outside Einstein’s. Magdalena arrives having missed the earlier interview to complete her paper.She agreed to be interviewed before the night of partying begins. She is from Germany and is studying for a Bachelor in Psychology and Islamic Studies and shespent her summer in Egypt perfecting her Arabic. She is one of the Activities Officers and has been involved with ISN for two years, also being one of the members of the organizing committee for Cultural Festival this year.
-Why did you get involved in the board this year? -I loved the work ISN did with the cultural festival, the people on the board were fun and I also admire what ISN stood for. The fact they help to make it easier for international students coming to Leiden to adjust. I see involvement in the board as way to make that process happen.
-What do you hope to see ISN achieve this year? -I hope that we will be able to attract all international students and to see more interaction with the Dutch student associations and Dutch culture. Having the four Dutch students on the board it is hoped that all this will be possible.
LisethAling, is a Dutch student studying for her Bachelor’s in Political Science, she is one of the Promotion Officers.
-Why did you get involved in the ISN board? -I loved hanging out with international students and so I thought by being involved on the ISN board is a good way to do something more for them like helping in their adjustments while they are in Leiden.
-What do you hope the board will achieve this year? -As an organization I hope we can be a bit more organized and what we will be able to accomplished all that we have planned and that all international and other students will now about ISN and what we stand for.
-How do you feel about the merger of the ISN-I and the ISN-R? -It is a good idea everything for international student is now centralized and we can now better meet the needs of the international students.
After we finish the interview we wonder how Thanos can manage to organize all the board of ISN. His answers that it is a difficult task but also fun, since we are all different but we have the same goal. Our goal is to help the international students integrate the best possible way in Leiden. Of course, we are doing our best to represent them and help them. Mark adds that it is really good! To be honest, in the beginning I was a bit nervous because I did not know any of the members and I would be spending a lot of time working with them. Surprisingly it worked out better than I thought! I am very happy with all the members and actually we are all friends and hang out together. Elize claims that it is working out very well and there is no problem. We even hang out apart from our ISN obligations. For example we all gathered and made dinners for Magdalena’s birthday! I want to say that I like Thanos because of his long hair and Lizet changes clothes 3 times per day.We surely had a great time interviewing these people. We really got the impression that they are not any ordinary board; they seem to enjoy their work and are having a lot of fun at the same time. When they are off duty you can find Thanos in the residence of Herengracht most probably in his room playing the guitar and wearing his legendary green pants. Mark would be in his flat watching series from his gigantic collection and listening to dirty jokes from his lovely roommate Nilas. Amber and Lizeth would be hanging with their friends and Magdalena can be found working out at some gym. As for our lovely Olga unfortunately for us and luckily for her you can find her in Malaysia at the moment.