Third-year medical student Fatima’s (21) hair is stringy from the pouring rain during the sports day. She has tiny rubber balls from the artificial grass and wet leaves on her shirt. The proud guide of the fourteen students in group 410 has just gone down a soaking wet slide. It was about a bet. Reluctantly, a losing group member chugs a beer.
I have just been told that you are good at chugging beer too.
“Yesterday at RSC, guides got free beer if they chugged beer, so I knocked back five beers so I could give free beer to the people in my group.”
Why do you have a supersoaker when it’s raining so much? Everyone is wet already.
“That jet is much harder than the rain, you can still feel it, haha!”
Why are you a guide?
“I think it’s wonderful to see that freshmen still look at each other a bit awkwardly on Monday and are best friends on Thursday. The fact that I can contribute to that is really nice.”
As a guide, are you more of a mate or a strict parent?
“I’m very much a mate. I am not a clear leader or anything like that, sometimes even a bit chaotic. I think it’s very important to have fun and be there for the group.”
What is the worst thing that can happen to you as a guide?
“That people don’t feel like doing anything. Then you shouldn’t do this, I think. You have to be open to new things during the Eurekaweek. I try to introduce people to that by taking them to associations, for example.”
What is your secret as a guide?
“If a few people don’t want to go somewhere, one of the two guides stays with them so that the rest can go. We do that, for example, when part of the group gets fed up with the rain. The focus is on having fun and being together with the group in a cheerful way. You have to be prepared to get up around 10 o’clock when your first group member wakes up and keep going until the last one goes to bed.”
