- Education
- 06/05/2021
André Kuipers opens MyFuture Week 2021
With an online lecture on the afternoon of Monday May 17th astronaut André Kuipers will open the week filled to overflowing with career-focused activities for TU/e students: MyFuture Week. How appropriate since the organizers hope to give the participants a flying start. As the cherry on the cake, by way of various fun and serious challenges, there are prizes to be won, including a hot-air balloon ride.
As of this academic year MyFuture Activities have become part of the bachelor's program, which means that students have to attend a minimum number of career activities during their degree studies. The upcoming MyFuture Week, from May 17 through 21, presents a great opportunity to make some headway.
This year the theme is ‘Launch Your Career!’ and the program consists mainly of online activities provided by the MyFuture Collective. Gathered within this collective are all the study associations, the career-oriented associations and foundations such as Recruitment Days, Integrand and Unipartners, EUFLEX, TU/e SkillsLab, TU/e Career Academy and innovation Space. Sustainable Innovation student Melissa Baars is one of the organizers - all recognizable by their bright red outfit this week. “We are hoping with this MyFuture Week to give all TU/e students a flying start in choosing their career path,” she says, “not just bachelor's students.”
Continue reading below the photo.
Photo shoot
“We'll be doing this with workshops, presentations on improving professional skills, lectures by companies and a whole lot more. We have also got some amusing activities planned, like guessing how many beach balls there are in a net, handing out a thousand sausage rolls on the Limbopad and bingo card challenges. Unfortunately, we have to observe the corona measures and even though lectures can be held on the campus, some companies are choosing to give a lunchtime lecture online so that they can reach a bigger audience,” says Baars. Fortunately, the photo shoot can go ahead, so students can have a professional photo taken to put on their LinkedIn profile.
Baars: “In any event we will be raffling prizes among the program's participants. The items we have include wireless speakers, air fryers and a thousand MyFuture Week socks (note to collectors: new design). But the main prize, and this is totally in keeping with the theme, is a hot-air balloon ride. This will be piloted by Built Environment alumnus Leon Leemans, who during his career as an urban renewal expert in Rotterdam founded his own company offering hot-air balloon flights.
Motivation
André Kuipers is uniquely placed to know what it takes to make a dream come true. On his career path towards space flight qualities like single-mindedness, patience and the ability to tolerate frustration were invaluable, but so too was a bit of luck. That students should never pass up an opportunity is something he will be emphasizing in his lecture. “However small the chance of getting somewhere seems, take it.” Boldly go where no one has gone before, is his motto.
Soft skills
MyFuture Week is more than just a good way for students to find out about all the possibilities after they graduate, Baars points out. “A lot of workshops can give you the soft skills you'll need even while you are still studying and the introduction to the job market can also really help you decide which master's will suit you.”
For first-year students MyFuture Week offers the chance to gain MyFuture Activities for their bachelor's.
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