Where can you find the smartest students? That’s the ultimate question in the Campus Cup, which switched from Canvas to channel Eén for its third edition. Six different teams from Ghent University took part, and the team from Applied Linguistics in the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy went all the way to the semi-final. Here’s more about the students’ experience.
Tine Evens, teamcaptain: ““I was really stressed about the ‘blokhut’”
“I wanted to participate last year already, but I was doing an exchange with Erasmus. So I had to wait another year. Emmely and I had been preparing since September, but we still needed two more guys to complete the team. I already knew Jolan from my classes and when we saw the message from Karel in the Facebook group, our dream team was complete.” In fact, I wasn’t stressed about the recordings, except for the ‘blokhut’. “That involves studying a course as quickly as possible. I was really scared of running out of time and not being able to answer the questions. After all, you sometimes hear rumours that our programme is not the most difficult, so I certainly didn’t intend to confirm that cliché! Fortunately, it went just fine. Actually, what nobody knows is that I became very sick during one of the recording sessions and so the production team let me study in the car park.”
Karel Janzen: “The ambiance was just great during each recording session”
“I am glad to have taken part. It was a really fun experience. I wasn’t afraid to lose, only to lose face. Fortunately that wasn’t the case ;-). For me, the actual recordings were a fantastic experience: you are there the entire day, together with your own and other teams. There are practice rounds, and in-between you can all go outside to chill out with the crew and there are sandwiches at lunchtime. The crazy ambiance between the teams makes for a real experience. And Otto-Jan Ham is a great guy, of course!”
Jolan Meerpoel: ““My favourite part? Otto-Jan Ham’s dog”
“We had no expectations when we got started. We were simply glad to be there, as the only team from Applied Linguistics. However, once you end up in the quarter final you really want to keep going. Furthermore, I think that some people have expectations when it comes to masters’ students, so there was a certain amount of pressure. But that certainly didn’t ruin the ambiance. My only fear was to give lots of really stupid answers, but there were only a few in fact (laughs). And if the stress ever got too much, there was always Otto-Jan’s dog wandering around happily behind the scenes. That meant you totally forgot the fact the cameras were rolling.”
Emmely Bosman: “We became close friends”
“Even though we already knew each other before getting involved, it was still wonderful to see what close friends we became. You share a special experience - as the only ones on your course – and that certainly brings you closer. I am also proud to have been the only team to represent Applied Linguistics. My only fear beforehand was that I wouldn’t have enough general knowledge. Particularly because of comments the others made (laughs). Fortunately, the stress soon disappeared in the studio. The crew made us feel relaxed and everything was carefully rehearsed. By the time we did the ‘real’ recordings, we had completely forgotten the fact it was all going to be broadcast on television.”
interested in participating in a possible next round next year? Here are the top tips from the Applied Linguistics team.
- During the pre-selections be sure to demonstrate the fact there’s a good click within your team. It’s an additional reason to be chosen.
- Be yourself, don’t try to act differently.
- You don’t really need to study ahead, but be sure to keep up with the news.
- It’s not really necessary to study all your courses in preparation
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