Students react to Integration Week

By Antoine Humbert

Sunday, while most second year students were getting ready for the new student year to start, first years were enjoying the final event of Integration Week in the woods, somewhere in the south of Reims. An opportunity for us to come back on this unique experience of the Integration Week and see if it was really enjoyed by the newly arrived “SciencesPistes.”

Integration Week was officially launched after the welcoming presentation at the Town Hall on August 25. It started with the traditional campus tour to enable new students to discover their new place of studies for the two years to come.

Alexandre, Euram 1A

Alexandre Desrez, a student from Paris, Euram 1A, said, “It is a beautiful campus, both modern and full of history at the same time, quite impressive when first coming in, especially when you know about the great names that came out of it prior to you.”

While this opinion on the campus was shared by nearly everyone, some other students believe they still have a lot to learn from the campus and are impatient to discover life there, a sentiment expressed to The Sundial Press by Nils Bourdin, Euraf 1A. He doesn’t feel like knowing the campus yet despite the small tour that was made and he’s awaiting “a very active campus life and many events on campus, as Reims is said to be a quite dead city and I don’t want to get bored.”

Bored is clearly not the state of mind of 1A students following last week. Tired, excited or maybe even drunk can better describe how many ended up. It must be said that the Student Bureau (BDE) has not skimped on resources to propose as many events possible to welcome the new promotion in the city of kings.

Kenza, Euraf 2A and President of BDE

Kenza Halimi, Euraf 2A, president of the BDE, admitted that it was “a big job on Skype throughout the holidays”, as she was working while away to make the most of the integration week.

This hard work has been rewarded by the enthusiasm of all the 1As who have quickly integrated themselves with both their peers and welcoming 2As.

Joël Kouassi and Jean-Michel Betran, both in Euraf 1A, believed that the best event of the week was definitely the City Quest during which they were able “to get to know more people, have fun and at the same time discover the entire city–all this in the best atmosphere possible.”

“I’ve been able to discover at the same time the students, the 2A, the administration, the campus and the city; it has really enable me to introduce myself to the student life… I really don’t know how I would have integrated myself without it,” said Marie Royal, Euram 1A.

Alexandre added that the “Integration week is essential to launch your year…and paradoxically even for your year as you get to know the environment in which you will evolve.”

However, “Integration Week is only a taste of what’s yet to come,” hints Kenza.