Guides look back on this year’s Eurekaweek: ‘We now do in one day what we normally do in a week’

Last week, Eurekaweek guides Wolke and Celine couldn’t wait to show around the two groups assigned to them. “This will be the chillest Eurekaweek ever,” Celine predicted at the time. As it happened, she was right. “I kind of expected the programme to be a little fuller, but we had quite a bit of time off in between activities, so it did end up being quite chill,” says her fellow guide, Wolke.

This year’s Eurekaweek was chill across the board, says Celine. “But at the beginning we had to work harder than usual to create a good vibe,” she goes on to say. “Because normally, you have a week to bond with each other, but now we had to do it in one day.”

The two guides supervised two groups together and spotted several differences in the way groups interact. “With one of our groups, we could tell at the end of the offline day that they were getting along very well,” says Celine. Wolke adds: “Last night all of them took part in the online pub quiz, and they’re already making plans to do things together. They’re very active contributors to the WhatsApp group, too.”

Having dinner together

On the third and fourth days of the week Celine and Wolke showed the participants around Rotterdam. They both say that keeping one and a half metres’ distance wasn’t too hard. “But when we were doing the Rotterdam exploration game, we only had two tablets and everyone wanted to join in, so people were inclined to huddle around the tablets. But generally speaking, it all went swimmingly.”

After the exploration game they had a picnic at The Park near the Euromast observation tower. “We had a great time there. We finally had a chance to talk to one another and get to know each other. We didn’t have an awful lot of time for that during the exploration game.” Afterwards they attended the information market on campus. “By 6pm the day was pretty much over. But because all the group members were getting along so well, we all went and had dinner together to close things off.”

Eurekaweek’s added value

As far as Wolke and Celine are concerned, Eurekaweek definitely adds value to students’ lives. “When I attended my own Eurekaweek, I met people to whom I’m still quite close. And when I became a guide the next year, I worked with a group of students with whom I’m still in close touch,” says Celine. “And yeah, I think some people on the groups we’ve just worked with have made long-term friendships. Which is great to see.”

So will they become guides again next year? “That depends on whether I’m successfully completing my degree, but I do really like doing it,” says Wolke. For her part, Celine shakes her head, but not because she doesn’t enjoy being a guide. “I’m graduating next year! So this will be my last Eurekaweek ever.”