It has been a while before I wanted to give another update. Let's just say that the first quarter of the academic year managed to keep us all pretty much off the streets. Not surprisingly, I did expect it but when you are in the middle of it, all feels just a bit more hectic. It may have seemed quieter, but nothing was further from the truth.
We started the year with 46 students in Amsterdam and 96 in Enschede. Definitely a nice number for the first year in Amsterdam. They were given a beautiful and quite jealous making classroom in the NU building. And then the weeks went by at breakneck speed, busy as we were keeping our communities together and solving hick-ups. There were open days, both in Enschede and Amsterdam, where prospective students orientate themselves thoroughly. Sometimes in both cities and even several times. And that is a good thing; the atmosphere of a university and the feeling the city or region gives you is going to make a lot of difference in the experience of your study time.
Recently we had a kind of interim litmus test: the hackathon of the first module, with all students together in Enschede to work on their project. They were wonderful days; plenty of focus in preparation and a fantastic demo day. It was so fantastic because in the projects we saw everything that CreaTe is in a nutshell. A story, technology, LEDs, wires, duct tape, laser-cut casings, students telling stories full of verve, others who got a bit carried away and appeared to have been a bit too ambitious. Everything was there! We reminded the students that they should be proud of themselves, even if the result was a little less than the hoped for. Ten weeks ago, they had no idea what they could do, and from now on, it will only get better.
What the litmus test taught us: that the basics are there with our students, regardless of the venue. That the fun is there, regardless of the location. And it’s CreaTe, regardless of the location. And that is what matters.
