Death or gladioli

We are in the middle of the last leg of this academic year and it seems as if everyone is sprinting towards the finishing line. But while the walkers in the Nijmeegse Vierdaagse (a four day march, Eds.) are walking their last few metres on the Via Gladiola amid cheers, pats on the back, and yes, gladioli, we reach the end point with overworked coffee machines, panicking students, and in-boxes filled with ‘high importance’ emails.

Everyone recognises that this is the period in which everything has to be rounded off ‘quickly’. Students are attending their last lectures, doing their assignments, preparing for exams, or finishing their theses. We teachers are already drowning in checking their work and may only prepare the teaching for Q1 in September, after the exams. On top of this, most research subsidy givers are not making things any easier by setting their deadlines for research reports on 31 July and for research proposals in the first week of September (or the first week of January – equally nice). Great!

In my case, it means that three pieces of research need to be completed before 31 July, and I have two deadlines in September. Thanks NWO (Dutch Research Council). Oh yes, and let’s submit a couple of papers before the summer. Might as well. As I would rather have the gladioli than the death in the saying (‘de dood of de gladiolen’ is a Dutch saying meaning death or success, Eds.), as a top athlete I stick to a tight schedule of fitness training and the nutrition needed for energy production, i.e. sprints to the coffee machine and the last cheese roll in the canteen.

This peak pressure is the consequence of the persistent idea that everything has to be ready by summer

Boy oh boy, what are we doing to ourselves? It looks as though we are collectively accepting agreed madness at the end of the academic year – survive a couple of months and then regain your strength in the summer holidays. If you have that luxury at least. But why have we arranged things like this?

This peak pressure is not a given like the Zevenheuvelenweg hill, that confounds hikers every year. It is the consequence of tightly packed semesters, overlapping roles (researcher, teacher, manager, supervisor), and the persistent idea that everything has to be ready by summer. It is as though the academic year is definitive, and that when you pass the finishing line, it really is ‘done’. But in reality, every project, every learning process, and every partnership do not let themselves be structured in semesters and credits.

This accepted madness hides the fact that there is a structural problem. We plan and assess within strict boundaries, but the work itself – critical thinking, creativity, supervision, deep diving – are not contained within them. And the consequences? Quality may suffer under quantity, the potential of ideas is not used fully, assessments are done in haste and superficially, and thesis support often becomes purely functional.

Maybe we can think about this during the summer holidays, while sipping a piña colada. After all, we are nearly there, the finishing line is in sight! And whether you are already almost completely breathless or can put in a little more effort, we will reach it together! So TU Delft, I am already looking forward to the bunch of gladioli at the finishing line in July.