Pascalle Verlaan, Event manager of the Apollo board and member of Musilon, InSpe, 4 happy feet and Belletrie
I am Pascalle Verlaan and I am currently the event manager of Apollo. Last year I was the chairwoman, but this year I am doing the board part time next to my study of Technical Medicine. Next to the Apollo board I am a member of Musilon, InSpe, 4 happy feet and Belletrie. I am also a member of Exaltio. I am on committees of, of course, Apollo and also of Musilon. This year I joined the Fiddler of the Roof production of InSpe and there I also help two committees. When I am not busy with Apollo, associations or my study then I like to work as an events caregiver of the Red Cross.
What can you tell me about your cultural background?
At the university I started with a cultural association because of a fellow student. She was a member of Musilon and always had enjoyable stories about that association. In my second year of my study I therefore became a member of Musilon. From that moment on I rolled into the Musilon board and after that the Apollo board. In my youth I joined a youth theater group. My mom has been on the board of a theater group for about 25 years now and my dad is also active within that association. That’s mostly why I grew up with theater and musicals. I only started singing and dancing at the university.
Why did you join a cultural association?
I started dancing at 4 happy feet because of my parents as well. They do ballroom dancing. I think it is a nice way to keep me fit and it seemed like a lot of fun. I also considered joining a theater group at the university. I wanted to continue doing theater sports and swimming, but I didn’t like the associations that much. During the Kick-In I rolled into Skeuvel which I did in my first year and then, as I already told, joined Musilon in my second year.
What can you tell me about your Apollo board experience?
Joining the Apollo board is really nice, because you work on very different things each day. There’s no one day that is the same as another day. I really like it to see different sides of culture and to meet new people. With the Covid-19 pandemic it is different than usual, of course. Last year went a lot different than everyone had expected. A lot of events couldn’t go through, such as the prom and performances. But it also gave rise to new things. I have been busy with all the protocols of associations for their rehearsals and I did the conversations with C&E (culture and events). I learned totally different things than I had imagined.
During my board year(s) I really grew in my professional attitude and communicative skills. You have conversations with different people and need to take initiative to contact them. I think this will help me in my future career, especially within the field of Technical Medicine.
Last year I was the chairwoman of Apollo and this year I am the event manager. I like both of the functions very much. As a chairwoman I was more the face of the association and I did a lot of organizational tasks. As an event manager you have more function specific tasks, which is also an aspect I really like.
What is your personal experience with dance/theatre/music/arts/games?
Next to doing the hobby you like with people who have the same interests, I really have a group of friends at the associations as well. It is fun to have drinks after rehearsals and to still practice our songs for example. There are also small memories that I will never forget, but I think the general atmosphere is the most important memory I will have.
What did you learn from culture/the cultural association?
Conviviality is something all associations (can) have. If you accept each other and appreciate who you are then you can really bond with people. I didn’t expect that the cultural associations would be so close and that there were a lot of other activities within an association. At high school you belong to a group or you belong nowhere. At the university it doesn’t matter how you dress, who you are or where you come from. You are always welcome.
What would you tell first years about Apollo/culture?
Now is the time to try something new! Just try things out. At almost every association you can start as a beginner and it is relatively cheap, so now is the perfect moment to join these associations.
What do you think of culture at the University of Twente?
I think culturing within the university is quite good, also the ‘together’ feeling is strong. If you look at every association of the university then culture has a bit of its own bubble. But maybe that makes it unique. With the bubble I mean that it is sometimes hard to involve people who have nothing to do with culture. Culture has its own community. Now I think that everyone has a bit of its own community, but with sports it is relatively easy to involve people because everyone knows that sports are good for your physical and mental health. Not everyone knows that culture is great for your health as well. That’s why we sometimes have to fight for our position.
Do you still dream of something to achieve with culture? Maybe at the university of Twente?
I would love to play an instrument and to learn how to read sheet music properly. That is something that needs time and dedication. If I had all the time in the world I would love to try out playing the piano, the violin or the saxophone.
Do you still dream of something else to achieve?
I think horse riding seems like a lot of fun. I would also like to have a hot air balloon ride one day.