With the physical part of the introduction period in full swing, some first-year master students are forced to stay inside as they spend 14 days in obligatory quarantine.
The campus is buzzing with freshmen enjoying the physical part of the OWee introduction week. (Photo: Marjolein van der Veldt)
“TU Delft informed us we could follow the IP online through the app, but it feels nothing like meeting in person. For introverts like me, it is difficult to communicate with totally new people in a new environment. I was looking forward to the IP, and the Faculty introduction day to get to know everyone and blend in.”
“I hope TU Delft will prepare a second, more compact introduction for students who are in a similar position as myself. I also wish they would explain more on how the online education is going to be. In a few days we will be starting our first classes and we have a lot of questions and there is much ambiguity. Besides that, I am eagerly anticipating having more on-campus education and being able to use the library, labs and the gym.”
We asked first-year master students Revanth, Rojin and Raghav how they are experiencing the home quarantine, what they think of the online introduction programme and what their expectations are for the first quarter of the academic year.
Revanth Kollegala (21) is from India and is starting his master’s in Aerodynamics and Wind Energy at the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering
“I just recently travelled to Delft. Technically I would have an introduction period programme, but since I came from India, which is an orange zone right now, I’m spending 14 days at home in quarantine and will attend the introduction online.”
“Getting to Delft was quite a hassle. The Dutch Consulate in India wasn’t open for a long time, but due to the high number of students wanting to travel to the Netherlands, the Dutch Embassy was kind enough to accommodate these requests and process MVVs (regular provisional residence permit for stays longer than 90 days) for us.
Thankfully, KLM/Air France then operated flights to India at the right moment so I could be here for an early quarantine period before classes start.”
“Even though I think most of the classes will be online this year, I still chose to go ahead with my master’s. I think staying in Delft with other students might help with the student interactions that I missed out on during the last part of my bachelor’s. Students were in lockdown in their home towns away from college.”
“I’m not worried about feeling isolated as I’m part of many WhatsApp and Telegram groups. There are also regular updates on Brightspace and the Introduction Programme (IP) app is pretty useful. There is also a group with new admits for my programme, but it’s not really active at the moment. Currently, I’m trying to get used to cooking alone for the first time and generally settling into the room. I have a shared apartment as well, so I am taking all precautions with social distancing: washing hands, and wearing a mask in the kitchen as well to protect my roommate, who’s been here all summer, in case I’m asymptomatic and a carrier. Other than that, I’m asking for help from my parents, keeping in touch with friends from home, and asking fellow seniors for tips.”
Rojin (23) is from Iran and is starting her master’s in Design for Interaction at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering
“Just a month before the start of the academic year I was still unsure whether I would make it to the Netherlands in time since the Dutch Embassy in Iran was closed and I couldn’t schedule an appointment. And then everything happened so quickly while everything was so uncertain at the same time. Most of us got our visas issued too late to be able to participate in the introduction programme in person as we have to spend two weeks in obligatory quarantine.”
“TU Delft informed us we could follow the IP online through the app, but it feels nothing like meeting in person. For introverts like me, it is difficult to communicate with totally new people in a new environment. I was looking forward to the IP, and the Faculty introduction day to get to know everyone and blend in.”
“I hope TU Delft will prepare a second, more compact introduction for students who are in a similar position as myself. I also wish they would explain more on how the online education is going to be.
In a few days we will be starting our first classes and we have a lot of questions and there is much ambiguity. Besides that, I am eagerly anticipating having more on-campus education and being able to use the library, labs and the gym.”
Raghav (24) is from India and is starting his master’s in Sustainable Energy Technology at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science
“During such unprecedented times I was lucky to get to the Netherlands as I had a student visa and the Government was allowing students into the country.”
“The introduction to my master’s programme isn’t until 28 August, so for now I have been following the IP on Brightspace and on the app. Since I did not get admitted last year I was really excited about coming to TU Delft and attending the introduction week on campus. Even though the online version is good enough given the present situation, I am really looking forward to the on-campus days as I have not seen the campus and everything it holds.”
“For the oncoming academic year, taking the current measures into account, I still hope for on-campus education in small groups alongside online classes. This will be beneficial to get to know the environment I’ll be spending time in over the next two years. But what I most look forward to is joining various associations!”
- As of Tuesday August 19 the obligatory home quarantine for people travelling to the Netherlands from areas with orange travel advice because of corona has been reduced from fourteen to ten days. This is good news for, in particular, international students travelling to Delft for the start of the new academic year.
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m.vanderveldt@tudelft.nl
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