A four-day event for high school students, organized by the Eindhoven student social associations E.S.C., SSRE and Demos: that is what the NED, short for Na Examen Dagen, are. Participants meet each other and familiarize themselves with the city and student life (and not seldom even find a room in the process), for instance by taking part in several activities during the day, attending parties at the abovementioned associations, and by having dinner and spending the night in students houses. Because, says co-organizer and Eindhovens Studenten Corps member Merel van Boetzelaar: “Eindhoven is a relatively small university city and many people aren’t that familiar with student life here.”

Of course, newcomers have ample opportunity to get acquainted with student life in Eindhoven, and with the city’s student associations, during the introduction weeks, scheduled for late August. But as far as membership of an association is concerned, freshman students increasingly decide to “think about it for some time” first, says Bram Hoedemakers, one of SSRE’s two representatives in the NED organization. “Some students want to talk it over with their parents, others want a room first, or simply focus on their studies exclusively.”

Forget

Perfectly legitimate reasons, and understandable as well, say Van Boetzelaar and Hoedemakers, considering the pressure of binding recommendation students feel weighing down on them. But is does present the associations with a challenge – because once they are caught up in their second year, students often tend to forget their original plan to apply for a membership at a later date, according to Hoedemakers.

In addition, Van Boetzelaar adds, much of what their department’s study association has to offer is to their liking as well. “That is one of the reasons why they sometimes don’t come into contact with the student social associations any more, even though they are still potentially interested in us. We have to actively approach them and show them that we still would like them to join us.”

That is the reason why Compositum, the umbrella organization of the three student social associations in Eindhoven, decided to concentrate specifically on first-year students as of this academic year. For instance, through the promotional activities surrounding the ‘WorldLid!’-party, which will take place at SRRE at the Vestdijk tonight (Thursday, May 9), starting 22.00 p.m. Because it doesn’t matter whether you become a member at 17 or as late as 24, the association representatives say, “as long as someone is sociable, is a good fit for the organization, and just has an active attitude,” Van Boetzelaar says. “But then again, the advantage of first- or second-year students is that they often have a bit more experience in managing or organizing things,” according to Hoedemakers.

Read on beneath the photo.