Internationals during the winter-AID. Photo Marte Hofsteenge Some two hundred students have registered for the winter-AID, a considerable increase from last year when only 113 signed up due to the covid situation. This brings the number of participants up to pre-covid levels (261 in 2020; 204 in 2019).
During the Annual Introduction Days (AID), new students are introduced to Wageningen. Since most students embark on their studies in September, the AID is organised in the summer. For students starting in February, there is the summer AID’s little brother, the winter-AID. This year, the winter AID takes place from Monday 7 to and including Friday 11 February.
The 2021 edition took place mostly online and in small groups of approximately six students due to the covid measures. This year, the options have increased tremendously, says Martijn de Ruijter (22, student of Agrotechnology), one of the AID-board members. ‘On Monday, for example, there is a pub quiz on the campus with room for 225 participants. Because of the restrictions in the number of people per room, we will have 75 participants in The Spot and 75 in each of the wings.’ Activities later in the week include an introduction to the city by bike or on foot, a Dutch meal at Ceres, a sports day, and a pub crawl or movie night. The activities are organised in collaboration with the Student Service Centre and organisations such as student sports association SWU Thymos and the international students’ associations IxESN, ISOW. The full programme is available here. De Ruijter: ‘Unfortunately, a party is not yet possible due to corona.’
Solid foundation
There are five groups for exchange students. ‘The remainder of the AID-groups is based on the study domains,’ De Ruijter explains, ‘and, should education be locked down again, this will still provide you with a solid foundation for your studies. Although the groups are formed according to the domain, they are still very diverse, including many different nationalities.’
The ‘big brainstorm’ for the summer will start after the winter-AID, says chair Joris Krol (20, student of International Land and Water Management). ‘How we will set up the area, programme etc.’ He hopes covid will not affect the event this summer. ‘However, we have enough scenarios from previous years that we can deploy should this be the case. But we plan for an AID similar to the ones we had up until 2019: one AID, a six-day party.’
