In this first part: Bobby Johny Varocky (24), a Master student of Automotive from India.

“Planning is difficult in the first year. There are so many subjects then, and you don’t know exactly what is coming your way yet. I soon found out anyway that I cannot postpone studying as long as in India! There I used to dig into my books just a few days before examinations, but you cannot come off well with that here.”

Bobby works ten hours a week as a student assistant at Mechanical Engineering. “Here I focus mainly on the practical side of my study. For one, I make sure that experimental installations are ready for students. I enjoy involving myself with practical matters also apart from the theoretical study. Ten hours of work beside your study is quite manageable, especially so in the second year. You just need to plan things carefully.”

Last year Bobby assisted in the organization of the Department’s introductory days. “Together with a friend I was ‘mum and dad’ for a group of international students. Besides the fact that helping out during the Intro is great fun, I find it important that new students get the right information here. When I was new at TU/e, I had no-one to turn to for advice, and I had the impression that I was missing out on a lot of information. New international students come with many questions. It feels very good indeed if you can help them with detailed directions.”

Finally, he is fanatically devoted to promoting the Eindhoven cricket team. “We have a great many members already and are trying to get training sessions organized at the TU/e Sports Center. So far we have not succeeded, but we’ll keep trying. The sport is gaining more and more familiarity, among non-Indian sportsmen too. During the Cricket World Cup I explained to all my Dutch colleagues how the rules work and I’ve put up a couple of cricket posters in my office. That sport is so important to us that we also need to be able to engage in it when we’re far away from home.”

Bobby hopes that his energetic attitude will encourage more students to take an active part: “It is important, for yourself as well. You establish lots of contacts, it’s a break from your regular student activities and it does wonders for your personal development. Studying alone for me would not be satisfying.” (HB)