EJW

To welcome the new MST students another edition of the EJW (Eerstejaars weekend, Freshmen introduction weekend) was organised by eight enthousiastic senior years. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic the EJW could not take place as planned. However the committee did the best they could. The EJW consisted of two parts; one online and one physical day. The theme was ‘orange is the new black’ and everything contributed to the theme. For instance, the freshmen had to wear orange T-shirts with railings portraited on them and had a card around their neck with a jail number on it. The EJW was a super fun opportunity to get to know fellow students and both the boards of Leiden and Delft. Some students and an organiser recall their experience on these pages.

The EJW through a freshman’s eyes

When we first arrived on the EJW (eerstejaars weekend) we had to turn in all of the things we were supposed to bring (none of which I actually did bring) and were handed an orange t-shirt, blue bucket hat and a booklet with all the songs we’d sing that day. All the songs were about chemistry, how amazing MST is and how horrible other studies are. Then we were told to stand in a matrix and begin singing, we were almost treated like prisoners, and the EJWcie were the prison guards, hence the theme of the day. I was the first in the matrix and stood there singing for what felt like an eternity, man I hate singing. Finally when that was done we went inside this big shed, and sang some more… but luckily we played some games and got to know our fellow students a bit, and some of us possibly made some friends. Luckily after dinner we got to throw the prisonguards (EJWcie) in the creek nearby and have ourselves a prison break. All in all I had a great time despite the fact that I despise singing and I even made some new friends in the study.

Ties Arink van der Meer (freshman student)

“Luckily we played some games and got to know our fellow students a bit, and some of us possibly made some friends.”

The EJW through a mentor’s eyes

This year, the EJW was different from the other years. Because of the corona measures, it was not possible to have an EJW with a sleepover. Because of these measures, the EJW was divided in an online day and a physical day. The online day lasted for a couple of hours, but it was a great start of the EJW! It was the first time that the students had the opportunity to see each other. The program consisted of multiple rounds. In the first round, there were games for the students to get to know each other. The second round was for the board, different members of the board played games with smaller groups. The last round was the escape room. This room was difficult, but almost every team was able to

escape. The top three were almost as fast as each other, but there was only one winner of course.

Unfortunately, the first years as a whole group could not attend the scouting terrain at once, and because of that there were two physical days with one half of the group on the first day and the other half of the group on the second day. The day started very early. Some students were picked up by the mentors at Leiden Centraal, after which the students biked to the scouting terrain. Other students were dropped off by their parents at the terrain.

“It was a long day, but it was definitely a great day!”

At the scouting terrain, the EJWcie waited for the students. The students had to stand in a matrix and had to sing typical EJW songs while waiting for the other students. When all the students had arrived, the students had lunch. After the lunch, the game 3x21 was played. During this game, the students had to complete all different kind of (crazy) challenges. All students were utterly competitive, and they really got to know each other quite a bit. After this game, it was time to stand again in the matrix and to sing songs. During this matrix, the boards of both study associations introduced themselves. Then, the students went back inside and were able to play drinking games. The cook made us a delicious quiche for dinner. After dinner, it was time for the pub quiz, which was presented by two former MST students.

ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK

It was a blast! After this quiz, the mentors biked the students back to Leiden Centraal. It was a long day, but it was definitely a great day!

Iris Blommestein (2nd year student, mentor)

The EJW through a organisor’s eyes

This year I was part of the organisation of the freshmen weekend in the summer. The committee has eight members, and with the eight of us we organised an amazing weekend, where all the new students of MST could get to meet each other. Since we had to deal with corona measures during the freshmen weekend, we decided to divide the group into two to make a special covid weekend. Firstly, all the new students had an online program where they played different games to get to know one and another. Then, on the second day half off the group came to the scouting terrain to have a physical day where they met as many people as possible in one day. Upon arrival at the terrain all the participants showed their QR-code, they got their shirts and bags, gave their gifts, and were placed in the matrix where they sang some awesome songs. It was nice to hold the megaphone and tell them what to sing. We taught them to VO on the beautiful number 21 and to like flamingoes, since “jij bent t voor mij want je danst zo mooi flamingo” an awesome song we as a committee really appreciated during the organisation. After the singing part they all got together in the hall to play 3x21, some awesome drinking games and the night was ended with a pub quiz. Of course, in between the games more songs were sung. The second group came on the third day and the same program was held for them. Only on the end of this day the committee was traditionally thrown into the water, a nicely refreshing dive to end this awesome experience. A special thanks to all the people who made it possible to organize this freshmen weekend and not to forget the rest of my committee with who I had an amazing time. Thanks guys!

Jorn de Vries (member of the EJWcie, organisor)

“jij bent t voor mij want je danst zo mooi flamingo”

THE EJWCIE (ORGANISORS)

DIRECTED SINGING BY THE EJW’CIE

SOME FRESHMEN PLAYING GAMES