Student of the Year 2023

For only the second time ever, the Student of the Year elections took place. Organised by Studium Generale and Erasmus Magazine, the award is meant to recognise the efforts of all finalists in the work they do; whether it be for their community, for students, or for anyone else. The Student of the Year is not someone who gets high grades or excels in the lecture hall, but someone who selflessly works for others.

Read about who won, the stories of each nominee, and why they were nominated, below.

The hundred and four nominations for Student of the Year 2023 were narrowed down to six finalists picked by the jury. Of those six, four were medicine students: Amran Mahamed, Hassnae Boubrik, Pim den Boon, and a shared nomination of Süheyl* and Tevfik*. Alex Huang is a master’s student in Governance of Migration and Diversity, and Renee de Groot is completing the International Bachelor in Arts & Culture Studies.

* For privacy reasons, the students’ surnames have been removed. The full names are known to the editors.

One of the six nominees was a third-year medicine student, Hassnae Boubrik. Always being eager to help out others and stay in touch with her mentees, Hassnae was nominated for her commitment to being a peer mentor. Her mentorship dedication led to her being described as someone who is “genuinely interested in you” by one of the people who nominated her.

His tireless efforts on educating people on diversity and inclusion, stemming from his past encounters of inequality, led to Alex Huang’s nomination for Student of the Year. The commitment to inclusion on campus and his empathetic nature all lead to his ultimate goal of making “people feel at home as much as possible”.

As the chair of the football club Antibarbari, and described as ‘one in a million’, 20-year-old Renee de Groot was committed to ensuring all 550 members of the club feel comfortable in their own skin. Moreover, she has done so by monitoring the well-being of the seven board members running the club.

The medicine students sharing a nomination, Süheyl and Tevfik, wasted no time in helping victims by the severe earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria. Meeting each other at the earthquake site, they provided healthcare to the victims and raised over 50,000 euros for those affected.

Being described as the ’embodiment of helpfulness’, Amran Mahamed has a vast portfolio of providing a helping hand to others. Taking every opportunity she can in such actions, she provided a series of donations to natural disaster victims, actively aided her Somali community, and organized multiple lectures.

Motivated by his own experience of working long, unpaid medical internship hours, Pim den Boon wanted to promote the interests of other medical students. Among his efforts were establishing medical allowances, preventing burnout for his peers, and stimulating inclusion.

Following the stories behind each of the finalists, voting was open for everyone to decide on who they thought was the Student of the Year 2023. The voting ran until the 29th of May.

Following their shared nomination for Student of the Year 2023, Süheyl and Tevfik did not focus on being in the spotlight. In the video, they hope their nomination would inspire others to commit to positive deeds.

With his efforts aimed at medicine students and junior doctors, Pim de Boon addressed major problems faced by that cohort of people. Among his efforts, he wants to ensure medical students have a positive outlook on their profession, as he shares in the video.

Being an international student, and a queer migrant, Alex Huang was nominated for his mission. And that is something close to his heart: an accepting campus. He tells more about his motivation in the video.

Inspired by her childhood teacher, Amran is committed to giving to her community. With helping her neighborhood children with schoolwork being only the tip of the iceberg in her selfless ventures, she does not think of the things she does as ‘big’.

Ensuring the well-being of the Antibarbari board, as well as all the members of the club led to Renee de Groot’s nomination. In the video, she reiterates that her efforts were recognized thanks to her board members.

Being spoken highly of by her mentees, Hassnae made countless efforts to be a mentor someone can look up to. After all, she wants to be a mentor she never had, as she explains in the video.

From dozens of nominees to six finalists who shared their stories, the elections culminated in the live show to announce the Student of the Year 2023. The live show included the nominees sharing their stories, as well as live performances from EURvision winners and a campus poet. To her own disbelief, it was announced that Hassnae Boubrik is the Student of the Year!