Feline Steup and the OWee board look forward to welcoming this year’s new students to TU Delft with a programme that has something for everyone.
“I studied clinical technology and my bachelor went by really quickly. My studies were fun and I also did a lot of things with social groups and associations. I still finished in three years and realised that I wanted to experience something like a board where you have many responsibilities and you are independent. It was about learning to work together with a group of people for half a year. I also think that OWee is a good cause to work for because it’s an important event for new students.
Planning for this year was very different from last year because they expected a normal OWee and then around March they heard that everything would be different because of COVID. They had to change the plans completely. This year we already knew that it would not be a normal year so we planned for five different scenarios. We realised that we don’t control the plans, but they depend on the Government and COVID.
We wanted to be able to change plans quickly in case the regulations would change. That was a bit scary because you’re making plans not knowing how it will go. We made plans ranging from completely digital to completely physical. We ended up with the best-case scenario, which is like a hybrid. Our first event was a digital day on 10 August which was good for people that might not be comfortable coming in person. For the physical programme we have planned for three days per participant. Starting on 15 August we will have the first group of participants for three days and then on 18 August the second group begins. It was necessary for us to be able to spread people around the city and the campus because the municipality wanted us to avoid crowds of people in one place. The programme will have a rotating schedule over the three days. It was a big puzzle to make that possible but it’s working out well.
‘It’s a big step to go away from home to a new city’
Last week we heard that we would be allowed to start with an opening event on a terrace with the ‘testing for entry’ approach and we can have up to 1,900 people. So, it’s exciting to be able to welcome the participants with music and no required distancing. We also have an alternative programme for people who don’t want to attend that which is an open-air film. For the day programme we have an information market with all of the student societies and associations at TU Delft, an event called Search at X, visits with student associations and also a city challenge where people can visit some of the highlights of Delft. Everyone is coming to a new place and it’s really fun to discover that as well. And we have Science Park, an event where there will be student groups (Dream Teams) featuring prototypes and projects focussed on sustainability or technical innovations. We have a lot of events and it’s great because last year they had a tough time fitting everything into one day.
One of our main goals is focussing on each participant because it’s a big step to go away from home to a new city. We want to provide information and let them experience what it’s like to discover this new city, to stand on your own feet, to cook for yourself, make new friends and study mates. It’s about letting all of those aspects sink in to realise what the new phase of your life will be like.”
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Heather Montague / Freelance writer
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