From September 2008 till September 2009, the 4th board was in charge of S.V.A.T. Astatine, consisting of:1From September 2008 till September 2009, the 4th board was in charge of S.V.A.T. Astatine, consisting of:
From left to right: Auke Been, Geert Folkertsma, Bas Haarman, Ramon Tummers
Bas Haarman – Chairman
You know what really grinds my gears? Telling something about myself. Unfortunately, this page has to be filled with it, so I will start by introducing myself: 21 years ago, in the hospital of Winschoten, I came very noisily into this world. Yes, according to my parents I had a set of lungs with which I kept the entire neighbourhood awake at night. I was also extremely inquisitive and literally put my nose in everything I met, which gave rise to a couple of tense moments when I walked around the farm: my parents have a pig farm in the pittoresque village of Blijham, located in the east of Groningen, just south of Winschoten.
When my brother was born, I apparently lost a lot of my pranks, to start playing the big brother. This even got better (or worse?) when my other brother and my sister were born. According to them, I am a very annoying and meddlesome big brother, but I’m proud of it!
My school career was nothing to boast about. Of course, I started with kindergarten and elementary school, then I ended up at high school for my secondary education. That’s where the trouble started. High school was just a bridge too far and Latin was my undoing. Well, just drop classical languages and continue at the “atheneum”: an extra year of high school doesn’t kill you. In the end, I got my diploma by going to a “sprint-opleiding” in big city Groningen.
And then you make a free fall into the deep and go to Enschede to study Advanced Technology! During “my” introduction I really enjoyed myself, and the “na-intro” was also brilliant. Even the study program was written for me; I was a content freshman.
Still, after a while I started missing something: just studying was just not “it”. I wanted to know what I was capable of, and that is what I think student life is all about: to learn what you can and want! This is exactly what I found in committees. There’s nothing better than seeing enthusiastic people having fun during an event that you have organised, together with the other committee members. Plus, you learn a lot in doing it.
In Astatine I have been in the activities committee, the introduction committee, the excursion committee and the symposium committee. Thinking back, you realise that you have actually changed a lot and got more self-confidence during that 2 years of studying and by doing several committees. I want to be able to pass that experience through to others, and that is why I decided to be on the board of Astatine.
Geert, Ramon, Auke, Niki and I will make Astatine grow even bigger and better than she already is, with new experiences for everybody.
Geert Folkertsma – Secretary
This year I am secretary for Astatine. Further down I will tell something about my activities as a secretary, but let’s start at the beginning: on Monday, June 13, 1988, at 5:22, my mother was released of a burden (or was she?). Anyway: from that moment on I went from kindergarten up through high school without too much trouble. Elementary school in Westenholte, a small village next to Zwolle; then high school in Zwolle.
I started choosing a study pretty early, and during the fifth year in secondary school, I was signed up for Electrical Engineering. Next year, my mother and brother came back from a study information market with the message they had found the perfect study program for me. After going to an information day and a “tag-along-with-a-student” day (where my student companion whom I will not name fell asleep during class), I was also convinced.
After two years of studying, during which I’ve been in a lot of committees for Astatine (parents’ day, chamber committee, IT committee, the editorial staff of the periodical ATtentie), I wanted to do less studying and do more for the association. Since the general assembly on 23 September, where the third board was substituted by the fourth, I am officially the 4th secretary of S.V.A.T. Astatine.
I never explicitly applied for secretary, all I did was mentioning it as “something I would be willing to do”. It turned out that I was the only one willing to be keyboard monkey, so the choice was quickly made. The office of secretary has the funny or sadistic property that it is started and ended with a bang: the first not-so-easy task was to take the minutes for the general assembly, biannual repetition guaranteed.
Although challenging and important, this one task is of course not the only one I have. Apart from taking minutes for the board meetings, I am responsible for (processing the) mail and our contacts with other study associations.
Apart from that, I keep all members and teachers informed of activities and other news, by sending the newsletter and updating the calendar.
Besides fulfilling my board functions, I want to at least do the following two things: do a little bit of studying, and having enough time for my hobby (music). I play the euphonium (tenor tuba, bariton; see wikipedia) in a fanfareorkest in Zwolle. I take music lessons at the academy of music in Enschede to try to keep my skill on level…
Keeping an eye on my Master’s (I probably can’t delay another year), I want to try doing some “pre-Master courses”, or maybe some random interesting courses, to not get out of the habit of studying completely. Right now, I’m taking Molecular and Cellular Biophysics, as they didn’t have that “in my days”.
A last remark; you are all (especially the freshmen, who might not know it yet) always welcome in the Astatine student room: for a cup of coffee, tea, lemonade, or to get something to eat. Especially the latter is, with the new, digital accounting system, a real treat!
Ramon Tummers – Treasurer and Officer of Books
It all started on a pleasant morning in fall 1987, in the beautiful countryside of Limburg (you know, the worm-like appendix of the Netherlands). That is also where I spent the first 18 years of my life. I also went through the long (and occasionally boring) process from pre-kindergarten through high school in my “home-home” Buchten village and the closely located city of Sittard. This time was of course also enjoyable but then comes the moment to start studying. A new city and new people, leaving home and live alone, and only learning things you really enjoy. Well, it is hard enough to find a study programme if you like pretty much all subjects. Then I found Advanced Technology. I was profoundly happy and knew immediately that this is what I wanted to do.
Astatine
Of course, student life is not only about doing your studies but also about a lot of fun. I became actively involved with Astatine rather quickly: in my first year, I was in the activities committee, ATAC. I decided to do that for another year, after the first year’s successes. I then also became part of the bar committee, BOSS, which was still starting up. At the and of that year, I also did the barbecue committee, which is, of course, a preparation and prerogative for becoming a board member.
Hobbies
Apart from all these activities I employed at Astatine and the study, I still had spare time on my hands, so I decided to take up climbing with the local climbing association, TSAC, where I am also in the board this year. I also participate in one of the Astatine teams in the “knotsbal” competition with Slagvaardig. These games are always a true battle, where the small plastic ball gets a hard time from the huge tampon-shaped bats.
All in all, these are a lot of activities to fill my calendar, which usually is indeed filled. But that’s what studying is about: do a lot of things and have even more fun!
Auke Been – External Affairs
I’ve been studying at the University for two years now and got entangled in a lot of activities, apart from my studies. I’ve been living from the moment I started my studies here on the campus, which I really enjoy. Before that, I lived next to the city of Gouda. Right now I am twenty years old and enjoy a lively student’s life.
Astatine
As officer external affairs I have to keep in touch with companies, and find new ones to cooperate with. Last year I also did this kind of job, for the study trip committee (BuCom) 2008. Apart from this BuCom, I have been in the Astatine collouium committee, to organise the lunch colloquiums that are held every fortnight. The year before that, I have been in the chamber committee and organised the parents’ day.
I am also involved with the public relations of Advanced Technology. From this summer on, I am in the Advanced Technology brochures under “a glimps of the life of”.
Hobbies
Of course, AT and Astatine are not the only things I do. I play the piano, started in September with ballroom dancing and if the weather permits, I enjoy riding my skeelers.
Email them at 4ebestuur@astatine.utwente.nl