The first time I heard about T.F.V. 'Professor Francken' was at the start of my study in Groningen. I was lucky enough to talk to Serte and Hilbert, and them being former board members, they made sure I knew about the association. Being a mathematics student I initially thought it was not a logical choice to join Francken, however after attending a few activities, I became a member of Francken and I have no regrets!

At the running dinner, a fellow member asked if I was planning on joining a committee. I was hesitant at first but at the committee reception I decided to apply for the Francken Vrij committee and the Freshmen committee which have both been nice additions to my year.

Last year, I studied Economics & Business Economics here at the RUG, and even though I got my propaedeutic degree I decided to give mathematics a go. At the beginning I thought of this year of math more as an experiment then a serious choice . However, I am realising more and more that it is probably a better idea to do a difficult study that I actually enjoy then to do a (relatively) easy study that I am not even that interested in.

Apart from the difference in difficulty I also expected a difference in people compared to Economics. There are some stereotypes when it comes to the social side of mathematicians and physicists and I was curious to see how the people would compare to the generally social and more often than not slightly arrogant economists (don’t tell them I said that). I have come to the conclusion that despite some peculiarities, the students at this faculty and Francken are all very nice and social and I feel that I fit in here better then at Economics. I have to admit I had no idea what was going on during my first Karakterborrel when everyone suddenly started chanting and stomping for the Francken song, but I have learned to love it.

Even though I am constantly studying at the moment, and I am not as often at Francken as I would like, I hope that I will have more time to be there next year. As we all know, it is also important to take a break from studying, so I try to attend the monthly Karakterborrels. See you at the next one!