Maja Metzger is the new Chair of the VUB International Student Platform (ISP). She took up her role several weeks ago, alongside 15 other students who became ISP members.
The main task of the ISP is to advise the Student Council on VUB policy-making that impacts international students, who make up some 23% of all VUB students. To represent the interests of this community at VUB, ISP works on different projects in support of an inclusive, fair, and connected VUB experience for all.
The ISP team is truly international, with 16 different countries covered between them all: India, Kenya, Cameroon, USA, Bolivia, Spain, France, UK, Germany, Croatia, Hungary, Western Ukraine, Serbia, Albania, Turkey, and Pakistan. The most recent data shows there are 148 different nationalities at the VUB, with the top 5 being Dutch, Italian, Chinese, German and Spanish.
Activities
The team has been meeting to set priorities and get organised over the past weeks. “We look forward to working together. By understanding, accepting and celebrating our own differences, and those across the VUB student community, we can enhance many aspects of the student experience at the VUB,” Maja explains.
The ISP team is organising itself in working groups and fine-tuning focus areas and responsibilities. Next to advising the Student Council, a core project will be to help the VUB reshape information that is useful for international students - before, while and after studying at VUB - and ensuring it is easily accessible in English. Additionally, the ISP will host a Town Hall meeting and various other events, also linked to other VUB initiatives where relevant.
Maja
Maja herself is half-German and half-Croatian. She has lived in Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, and now Brussels. She got her first degree in Amsterdam in philosophy, economics and politics. She followed this up with a double degree master’s in global development and entrepreneurship in Venice and international and European business in Strasbourg, and is now at the VUB studying to get her advanced master in European integration. [continue reading below photo]
Why Brussels and why the VUB? “To be honest, I was just lucky that I applied to VUB in early 2021. I was home in a little town in Bavaria and I really missed living in a more international environment – so it was natural to look at university programmes in Brussels. I love that the VUB offers interdisciplinary programmes so we can learn from people with different backgrounds and experiences. I also appreciate VUB’s focus on getting us to think about the role we can play, with new perspectives helping me to understand our world a little better.”
So what drew her to the ISP? “By joining the ISP, I hope to help other international students make their time at VUB easier and more fun. I missed this side of student life during the last 1,5 years so when I arrived at VUB and heard about the ISP I immediately applied. It’s great that the term of the ISP follows the academic calendar so we really have time to try to have a tangible impact. I love helping to bring wonderful ideas from engaged students come to life: we want our work in ISP to make a positive difference for the integration and wellbeing of all international students at VUB.”
>> FInd out more on the VUB International Student Platform on their webpages, follow them on Instagram, or like their Facebook page.
