Get to know the new board: Anne & Thijs

During the monthly EBF Social, the new board for the year 2018-2019 was announced and these eight people are very excited to start this summer with their huge project. In the bright sun, outside of the Duisenberg Building, we spoke with two of them; the candidate chairman Anne Veenhuyzen (22) and the candidate it & marketing officer Thijs ten Cate (20). They told us about their personal life, their EBF Experiences so far, why they applied for a board year, and much more.

When we asked Anne and Thijs to introduce themselves shortly, Thijs told us that he grew up in Zuidlaren (a place near Groningen) and that he is finishing his bachelor of International Business at the RUG. He told us that he does not feel like doing a master right away since this would mean that the end of his student days would come too soon, as he is only 20 years old. Not only this, but he wishes to gain some more practical experience and stay in Groningen a bit longer before moving away. Anne agreed with that, after telling us that she comes from Berkel en Rodenrijs, a place close to Rotterdam in the western part of the Netherlands. Before she came to Groningen, Anne studied Public Administration (Bestuurskunde) in Leiden, but she found out that this study did not fit her. She therefore decided to come to Groningen, where she joined the EBF and the student association Albertus Magnus where she is still a member. She is in her last year of the bachelor Business Administration (Bedrijfskunde) and aspires to do a master in the area of International Management, most likely the International Management/CEMS master in Rotterdam. Coincidentally, this is the same master Thijs seriously considers as well. In their spare time, both of them sometimes go to the ACLO, however, they are afraid that they won’t have much time to do so next year. Furthermore, when Thijs told us that he is a huge fan of listening to a lot of music, Anne immediately told us that she does too, and Thijs added that Anne is, in his opinion, a very good singer.

Later on, we asked them to reveal some of their EBF Experiences so far. Both Anne and Thijs have done a committee at the EBF and they were very positive about their learning experiences and being part of EBF itself and its events. Anne’s first committee was the Introduction Committee, taking care of the well-known EBF Introduction Weekend where she was active as the secretary. She’s very proud of the weekend they put together at the “beautiful German island Borkum”, where many people signed up for and made new friendships. After this committee, she decided to join a committee at the MARUG, where she was part of organising an event too. Thijs on the other hand joined the Marketing Committee where he, after six months, became the chairman. The thing he liked most of this committee was taking pictures of the EBF Members at all the EBF Events and socials and working together with almost all the other committees, and helping them with making all the necessary promotional material for their events. Next to being part of committees, Anne and Thijs went, just like many EBF Members, to many socials and events (like Consultancy Tour and the ESR Prague trip) where they had a lot of fun and learned a lot from.

We were curious about their reasons to apply for the EBF Board as well. As said earlier, both were interested in gaining some more practical experience and staying longer in Groningen. Thijs and Anne see the boardyear of the largest study association of Groningen as a nice opportunity to do something completely different, exciting and challenging. In the next few weeks, the new board is going to get together many times, as well as spend a weekend together, to get to know each other more and to think about their plans for next year. Both Anne and Thijs are aware of the busy schedule lying ahead, which does mean that there are some other activities they have to put on second place. However, they are more than willing to do this, as Anne and Thijs are really looking forward to upcoming September and are more than ready to start managing the EBF to the best of their ability. An aspect which they told us they are excited about as well is the fact that they will work in a motivated and cohesive team. In order to be fully prepared, the current board members will help them on their way, so when they take on their new position, they know exactly what to do and how to help the EBF stay a fun study association full of career enhancing opportunities.

At the end of our interview, we decided to ask something completely different. We asked “If you were an animal, which animal would you be?”, a question which many active members may recognize. After some quick thinking, Anne would consider herself as a tiger as she’s someone who is direct, fast and passionate. “Queen of the Jungle” Thijs adds with a smile. Thijs (hesitatingly) answered (on the other hand,) that he probably would be a dog because he would characterize himself as expressive and almost always joyful. He added that besides this, you can always count on him as well. Later on, when we asked for the biggest blooper they can remember, Anne revealed to us a nice story; some years ago, on the first day she got to know her Introduction Committee, they had dinner and afterwards entered “T Fust” to party. After a while, her committee members could not find her anymore, so they assumed she just left and went home early. It turned out that Anne had fallen asleep in the girl’s bathroom; a ‘power nap’ she jokingly said. Thijs did not know exactly what his biggest blooper was, but he did confess that he can sometimes be a bit clumsy. He recalled that during his exchange to the McGill University in Montreal last year, he went to a ball with some friends. On his way to the party, all suited up, he tripped and tore a hole in his trousers. Not only were his trousers damaged, but his phone did not survive the fall on the concrete sidewalk either. “Not my best moment!”.

After having talked to Anne and Thijs for an hour in the beautiful April sun, which was getting a bit too hot, we all decided to round up our interview. We can definitely say that we had a great time getting to know our future chairman and it & marketing officer and we can certainly say that the EBF will be in great hands next year. We look forward to getting to know the rest of the board as well, and we urge everyone to do so as well at the next General Members Meeting!

Coen Wolters & Annemarie Koomen

02-05-2018