Raischa O'Prinsen and Jochem Arts

Raischa O'Prinsen (Netherlands)

On the arrival day I had the honor to bring a tired and quiet girl with big eyes to her new home.  This new home was verbs 28, the place of all places to party all night long as I knew from the semester before. I was kind of scared for this girl, but as it turned out, this wasn’t necessary at all. Because she turned out to be in my mentor group and I got to know her a little bit better. Although she might seem shy in the beginning, she isn’t afraid to speak her mind and just be herself.

And that’s what I really admire about Janine, she is just Janine, no fake extra’s or additions. She is who she is, even though that might not be the image of a typical exchange student. She doesn’t drink or sleep around. I think a lot of people can learn from that. I definitely appreciate this and it brings things into perspective for me as a board member of I*ESN.

She is also a sweetheart, whenever you need things she will do it for you. But on the other hand she is not afraid to ask for help herself. I have some great memories with this girl, from the weird things we had to do at intro-camp to a great concert of a band I never knew existed.

Janine, I wish you all the best back home. Remember you always have a place to stay in Tilburg (or wherever I might live the next years). My wise words for in the end: Never change yourself, you are really awesome! J

Jochem Arts (Netherlands)

Being one of Janine's and her other group members' mentor has been for me a fun time. As mentor me and three co mentors had to guide and help Janine and other exchange students of our group during their exchange. Our group was much fun and I think we succeeded in giving them a good impression of the Netherlands and feeling welcome after coming from a strange country. This also gave room for getting to know Janine a bit better, and I summarized the most remarkable moment below.

The first thing I remembered with Janine was in the first week, during the TOP-week. During one event she had a planned a meeting with the bank so she could use a debit card. The route to the bank was far, for foreign bike distances, but also easy. First, turn left on to the road. Second, at the traffic light, turn left. Then keep on going straight and you will see the bank after some time. After 20 minutes Janine came back to the event. She was lost, and thank god, found the event again. So I biked with her to the bank and her house to make sure we wouldn't get a call from Janine who was lost again.

But after this event I only know of her being lost one more time. She grew from being shy and uncertain into a girl that is more confident about who she is, and not to afraid to show it. In the last month, Janine showed that she also has a great heart that cares about anyone, even the people she doesn't know that well.

But the last thing that should be told about Janine is her love for cats. She always appears to be completely normal. But one night Janine, me and some others were walking back when she saw a cat. She immediately went into cat mode. Becoming really small/ stealthy (like a cat), and approaching the cat from behind; trying to catch it. The cat ran away when she made her move and suddenly Janine was completely normal again.

But to end this I want to say that Janine is a great girl and I have had a lot of fun with her. I hope she will have a great life after this and I can say I am proud of having gotten the opportunity to get to know this catwoman.