Sven Assink’s Carbage run to his roots
Those of you who know Sven Assink, IT manager at FASoS, may have once or twice compared him to a Viking. But not to worry: this is entirely justified because Sven told me he is of Swedish decent.
What did strike me as a bit more odd was his hobby: participating in Carbage runs – 5000 kilometres rides through Scandinavia in a really old and really cheap car. I was of course eager to know more about this.
Aneta Spendzharova’s love for mountains and her twins
I meet Aneta Spendzharova, associate professor in Political Science, via Zoom on her tenth wedding anniversary. She met her husband while she was in graduate school in the United States. They got married in Maastricht in 2011 and welcomed their twins, Boryana and Matteo, 20 months ago.
According to Aneta, she is a chaotic person by nature and she loves being outdoors, which helps her to clear her mind and find inspiration.
Akudo McGee’s voyage to Maastricht
Akudo McGee, PhD candidate at FASoS, describes her life as at times ‘very random’, especially the story of how she ended up in Maastricht.
On top of that, she is turning into a ‘crazy cat lady’ and has given her cats special names.
Darryl Cressman’s previous jobs
About 9 years ago, Darryl Cressman, assistant professor in in philosophy, moved from Canada to the Netherlands with his wife. They got married in Maastricht and are currently expecting their first child.
He seems all settled in now, but I wondered about his life before he came to Maastricht, and I was not disappointed by his story.
Inge Coenen built her own home
Like most of us, Inge Coenen, Cluster Coordinator of the Finance department at FASoS, saw a lot of fun activities disappear due to the corona crisis and new interests emerge. Inge got more time for biking when the corona crisis hit and she had finished building her house.
Melissa Wijnen’s vegetarian Polish dishes
Melissa Wijnen, HR assistant at FASoS, saw most of her hobbies disappear due to the corona virus: travelling, going to festivals, going out to dinner, seeing friends, going to the gym. But it is also thanks to the corona pandemic that she gained a new hobby. With more time on her hands due to the corona crisis, she discovered her love for cooking.
Pablo del Hierro’s sustainable practices
Pablo del Hierro, assistant professor in history, arrived in Maastricht in January 2013 on a 6-months contract. He didn’t have to think twice when he was offered this short-term contract. “I worked as a teacher in Madrid back then and had a lousy contract. The worst case scenario for me was that I would indeed only be able to stay on for 6 months at FASoS, enjoy living in the Netherlands, and then go back to a lousy contract in Spain; there are plenty of those around there.”
Fortunately, Pablo managed to stay on at FASoS. But now during the corona pandemic, he is (temporarily) back in Spain. How come?
Karin van Leeuwen does fitness boot camps
“That’s a very complicated question you are asking… what I do in my time off… it’s been a while since I had time off,” Karin van Leeuwen, assistant professor in the History department, writes to me in an email when I invite her for a chat for the Humans of FASoS. “But I’ll do my best to think about something during the interview,” she closes off her email.
Raf Widdershoven and his combination of theatre and psychology
Last week, I interviewed one of our newest additions to the student advisers team, and winner of the 2020 FASoS Christmas quiz: Raf Widdershoven. Before joining FASoS, Raf studied psychology and a research master’s in psychopathology at FPN. During his studies, Raf was an active member of the student theatre association Alles is Drama. Why did he not pursue a life on stage, and how can his background in acting explain his current career choice?
Award-winning triathlete Diede Diederiks
A little before the Christmas break, I met with Diede Diederiks, Educationalist at the Educational Development and Policy cluster. Diede’s supervisor had told me she participates in triathlons, which I assumed she did as her hobby. Little did I know Diede is a semi-professional triathlete.
