Hello dear Sharks! The 19th Board of Tiburón was installed on Wednesday 18 September. Since you’ll be seeing us often this upcoming year, we though it would be a good idea if we to introduce ourselves to you here on the blog! In this first part of the Board Introduction-series, our brand new president Kristel will tell you more about herself:
Hi sharks!
In this blog I will introduce myself, so you will get to know about everything there is to know about me! I love to have a chat, so don’t hesitate to come up to me if you see me 🙂
My name is Kristel Zaal, I’m 22 years old, and I grew up in Mijdrecht, a small village between Amsterdam and Utrecht. After finishing high school, I decided to move all the way to Maastricht to continue studying.
At home, I had been a member of a swimming association since I learned to swim. During the last few years I was part of the competitive team, but I quit when I was around 13. A couple of years I didn’t do sports at all, until I discovered that Maastricht had a student swimming team. Fun fact: I could have joined Tiburón during my first year, but I used to be really shy and didn’t want to randomly join halfway through the year. So, first thing I did in my second year was joining a try-out practice. I instantly fell in love again with the feeling of swimming and decided to become a member.
Only then I discovered what great things Tiburón had to offer: the people in my lane slowly became my friends, there were many fun activities to join, everyone would go out together now and then, and I got to participate in awesome student swimming competitions.
Now we’re here, 4 years later, and thanks to Tiburón I’m still living the best student life. I am currently in my 4th year of the psychology bachelor and hope to graduate this year. This might be a little bit of a challenge since I’m usually quite a busy person. I’m always in a few committees to organise fun events, I have a side job, I try to be at practice 3 times a week, and of course I also need to focus on my studies (because that’s what we’re here for in the end). This year I’ll be your president and I cannot wait to experience all the fun with you guys! We have some great things planned for you.
This year I’m the person that’s responsible for the contact with all our sponsors and external relations, and I make sure that everyone in our board has fun and does their job so we can run the association smoothly. Next to this, I’m responsible for Tiburón’s Public Relations, together with my PR committee! We are in charge of Tiburón’s social media updates, organise the legendary Batavierenrace, and make sure our activities during the INKOM are a great success. This year I’ll also be involved in organising an amazing ski trip for Tiburón and our fellow student swimming associations in the Netherlands. If you would like to know more about this, you can always approach me 🙂
In short, I have a very social function, which is great because I love to surround myself with people. I’m excited for this year and hope I will get to know every one of you!
I’m looking forward to meeting you at the pool or at one of our activities!
With love,
Kristel Zaal
President 2019-2020
Speaking of activities, don’t forget to sign up for the following activities now that you’re on the website anyway! Click the name of the activity to go to the sign-up form:
26 September – Dinner at the Pool (deadline Tuesday 24 September)
4-6 October – Introduction Weekend
11-13 October – NSZK I Wageningen (deadline Tuesday 24 September 20:00h)