ESAB cohort 2024-2025

Hi! My name is Rebecca Pytsje du-Pont, and I was born and raised in South Africa, with parents from the Netherlands and Eswatini. I am currently 21 years old and in my 3rd year of Biomedical Sciences at the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences. I have a deep-rooted passion for helping people, and I am especially interested in the workings of the human body. I love engaging in conversations where I can learn more about people’s personal experiences through different journeys of life, and in my free time – you can find me doing my roommates' nails. 

My “Aha” moment in education specifically relates to the environment that tutors created when we started with a new tutorial group. I really appreciate it when I feel like the tutor has put thought into the way that they would like the atmosphere in the tutorial to be. This really has an impact on the discussions and, thus, the learning process throughout the course. One very specific example is when a tutor told us to all find a picture that described what we did over the weekend but also something that related to who we were, and we each shared this photo with a little description. This innovative way of doing an introduction round was a small, easy way for us to really break the ice and get on a bit of a deeper level with the group. It really led to us having very open and productive conversations in relation to the course content, but also just in general. This moment made me realise that even a small amount of effort really can have a big impact on the entire learning process. 

Hey everyone! I am Charlotte, and I'm currently in my second year at University College Maastricht (UCM), a programme at the Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE) at Maastricht University. At UCM, I mainly focus on experimental psychology and cognitive science with the aim of gaining experience in psychological research and understanding human behaviour. In my free time, I enjoy being active in the academic board at UCM, playing soccer, drinking coffee and reading an extracurricular book every now and then :) 

Recently, I took a course on memory in which one of the problems dealt with effective study techniques. This problem basically taught us study strategies that aid long-term memory retention. During the post-discussion, I suddenly realised how perfectly this task fit the course. The readings and tutorial discussions not only provided me with knowledge on memory but also gave me practical insights into how to study effectively for the exam; a phenomenon linked to memory. I genuinely enjoyed learning something that was directly applicable to my studies as opposed to learning something solely for the purpose of reproducing it in an exam. The course coordinator highly valued this practical approach and provided us with useful materials. This highlighted the importance of practical input to me, which is sometimes neglected but makes a large difference in my opinion. 

My name is Valeria Chistyakova. I am 19 years old, and I am currently a 2nd-year student in the Psychology & Neuroscience Bachelor's programme at FPN. I love keeping myself active and my creativity flowing so some of my passions include singing, listening to different music genres, writing, swimming, and working out at the gym. I also enjoy reading and learning different languages (so far, I fluently speak 4, but I'm hoping to master many more in the future). 

My passion for learning arose in elementary school. In fact, my experience with my teachers almost led me to pursue an educational career myself. My teachers had a way of making every lesson feel like a discovery, blending curiosity with creativity in ways that kept us all engaged. They didn’t just teach; they inspired us to explore beyond the textbooks, encouraging us to ask questions and follow our interests. One teacher, in particular, was known for bringing subjects to life with unique, hands-on activities. Whether it was using storytelling to explain historical events or organising interactive science demonstrations right in the classroom, they made learning both accessible and exciting. Seeing their dedication and enthusiasm sparked a love for learning in me, and I’ve carried that with me ever since. 

My name is Charlotte, and I am studying for the Master of Healthcare Policy Innovation and Management at the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences. 

I experienced my passion for learning during a presentation I gave on Emergency Department Inefficiencies at the end of a course about improving processes in a health service delivery organisation. This experience highlighted the value of taking an active role in sharing results and in applying what we learned beyond theory to gain insights into the healthcare field.  

Hi, I'm Tanaaz Shahariyar. I'm a third-year Global Studies student at FASoS. I love reading graphic novels and fiction when I'm not attempting to write myself. In my spare time, I like watching movies and crime documentaries and chatting about anything and everything with my friends. I also love travelling to new places.  

Back in my first-year, I didn't participate much during tutorials because I felt my peers were much more knowledgeable than I was, and I had nothing to contribute to the discussion and that my background—shaped by a vastly different upbringing compared to them—was more of a disadvantage than an asset. However, after one particular tutorial, a classmate approached me to share that she wished I’d spoken up more. She said that the points I had made offered a perspective she hadn’t considered before, one that really broadened her understanding of the topic. Her words helped me recognise the strength that different worldviews bring to discussions, showing me that diversity in perspectives can create a far more enriching and insightful learning environment. 

Hi, I am Alexandra Gropius. I'm a master's student at SBE. I study Learning and Development in Organisations and am curious about all things related to learning, group dynamics, and formal and non-formal education! 

One moment that fuelled my passion for learning was during a leadership training I helped facilitate. The trainer emphasised participants’ responsibility for their own and each other’s learning and made sure everyone was feeling safe within the group, which led everyone to participate very actively. Throughout the training, participants engaged in collaborative learning, reflected on their own and others’ beliefs and experiences, and actively contributed to each other’s progress. I found it very impressive to see how much people can take away from only a few days of working together, and I would love for that dynamic to happen more often. 

I’m currently working on my bachelor's in computer science at Maastricht University, studying deep into Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, software development and data analytics. Outside of classes, I love creating innovative software that solves real-world issues. Besides that, I love watching series (mostly American), and I listen to a lot of music. 

One of our cool projects was all about predicting heart attacks using patient data, and it was amazing how close our predictions were to the actual rates. As we tackled the messy data and tricky machine learning stuff, our professor was super passionate and made everything really engaging. He asked us to use live coding and cool interactive tools that made the hard concepts way easier to understand. The real "Aha" moment came when our model accurately predicted heart attacks almost spot on. Seeing how our work could be beneficial and real got me totally excited about learning and innovating. It showed me how awesome hands-on projects and a passionate teacher can be. 

Hi! Since you’re reading this, you’re either very curious… or just really, really lost. Either way, happy to have you here! 

My name is Ksenija, and I am one of the ESAB members this year. Actually, I was an ESAB member last year, too. As I am very keen on providing feedback, I really enjoy that EDLAB and academic staff members can take our opinions into account, and it can make a big difference in their daily activities. Hence, I am excited to carry out this duty for another year. 

As a fellow ESAB member (surprise, surprise!) I share a passion for education. However, I am not a very easily impressionable person. Therefore, I'm not easily blown away by innovative practices in the classroom. So far, one of my favourite practices is the project periods that we do at MSP. One project, in particular, comes to mind as the best example of a moment when I felt passionate about learning. We were given a yeast strain that was supposed to be capable of producing beta-carotene. However, it wasn’t behaving as expected. Therefore, our aim was to explore the reasons behind its unexpected behaviour. While our supervisors had a certain hypothesis in mind, they allowed us to explore our own ideas even though quite a few of them could lead to the project becoming a complete disaster. Everything was fine at the end, however, and we managed to get some very interesting results. What I am trying to highlight with this example is that it is crucial teachers let students experience failure firsthand. Failure is a valuable lesson for growth, and that’s where true, deep learning occurs.