When I was a student, I used to question who my teachers really are. I was curious about their background and why they decided to be a teacher. Now that I am a teacher, I am often curious about what the students think about me. More generally, I am curious what the students think about ESSET staff. One evening, after a long day of taking care of my students, this blog idea popped inside my head: I have to write blogs about ESSET staff. I think it would give some inspiration to the students, or even to our fellow colleagues. So here it comes, the very first episode! In this blog, I interviewed Marjon Verhoeven.
Marjon Verhoeven has been working in ESSET for more than 15 years. Next to teaching, she is responsible as the coordinator for the first year ESSET students. She is also part of the exam board of our academy ATGM. Read our interview below to get to know Marjon better!
Widya: “What did you do before working at ESSET?”
Marjon: “I studied chemistry and then got a teaching degree. After that, I immediately joined Avans Hogeschool (although it had another name then). At first, I mostly taught in the Chemistry programme, but gradually shifted towards Environmental Sciences.”
Widya: “What motivated you to join ESSET?”
Marjon: “I just love teaching, but was not very good a dealing with high school pupils (they kept having water fights with wash bottles during practicals…). So I decided to try my luck at a University of Applied Sciences where students are more motivated and mature (well, mostly). Though I started teaching in the Chemistry programme, my green heart quickly drew me towards Environmental Sciences.”
“It always lifts my heart when I see students of very different backgrounds and cultures becoming friends, having fun, working together, and forming a lifelong worldwide network after graduation.”
Marjon Verhoeven
Widya: “What do you like (the most) about working at ESSET? Or in the other words, how do you enjoy working as ESSET staff?”
Marjon: “Compared to like 15 years ago, what made the job most interesting to me is the international crowd. I like the multidisciplinary of ESSET and the fact that most students are there to change the world, but I really like the cultural diversity in students and staff most.”
Widya: “What do you not like about working at ESSET?”
Marjon: “Grading! Has nothing to do with ESSET by the way, would be equally annoying in any other programme. Also, thinking of suitable treats. Sometimes I treated my class to, for example, chocolate pepernoten, but then the vegans were not happy and some students had a gluten allergy. ESSET students are usually a bit more principled and also more vocal about these kinds of things”.
I hope that you get inspired by Marjon’s little story about her journey with ESSET. Nonetheless, Marjon said that she does not have the abilities of Marten Luther King or Nelson Mandela or Oprah Winfrey, so she cannot give any inspirational or motivating quotes. Try to get inspired yourself, because there are so many inspirations out there 
This is so nice to read! Haha, also really love the pictures 🙂