On May 7th the first wave of elections for next academic year’s mandates at LOKO took place. At that occasion, Jannes Motmans (23) got elected as LOKO International’s coordinator, following in the footsteps of Bert Willems.

The Voice - Congratulations on your election.

Motmans: Thank you. I’m really looking forward to next year!

The Voice - What was your motivation to go for this mandate?

Motmans: When LOKO announced new elections would take place, I went to the info session to see what they had to offer. As I had hoped for, the description of LOKO International fitted exactly what I was looking for: dealing with international student and matters. The K.U.Leuven’s international policy is rather young, and so is the LOKO function. This means that there are many challenges ahead.

The Voice - How do you see your task?

Motmans: For me, there are three important actors when it comes to international matters: the Student Associations representing the students from each faculty, the faculties themselves and the International Student Associations. Next to that, there are three domains I’d like to contribute to: incoming mobility (people from foreign countries studying in Leuven), outgoing mobility (Flemish students abroad) and internationalization @ home. I see it as my first task to support and stimulate all three actors to participate in and work together on all three domains. I will therefore focus and try to improve the communication between all actors. Secondly, I would also like to focus on the integration between Flemish students and students from abroad. For me, the international experience is not limited to studying abroad; it is also about learning from and dealing with new people from often-different cultures. The Student Associations can play a major role in this integration. The possibilities and tools are present, they just have to be optimized and promoted. I see it as my task to support and stimulate the Associations to contribute to this matter.

The Voice - At your election a comment from the General Assembly was that you never did anything inside LOKO, nor in any Student Associations. Do you think this is an advantage or disadvantage?

Motmans: I have indeed a lot of things to learn in the upcoming weeks and months. It’ll take some time to adjust and prepare myself, but I’m working hard for it and Sarah and Bert (current LOKO International collaborator and coordinator, ed.) are doing a great job guiding me through these first weeks. However, the fact that I have no experience with LOKO doesn’t mean I have no experience with students. I’m also a resident in a student dorm with 170 students, I’ve been working for many years as a volunteer in the youth club and I was president of the student council in my High School. Albeit the disadvantages, I think there is one major advantage: I will have a whole new and fresh point of view on several matters.

The Voice - So, are you looking forward to it?

Motmans: I am! I’m looking forward to work together with my colleagues inside LOKO, to come in touch with international students, to organise several activities, to represent the students wherever I can and see the possibility to, to help where I can,… This is probably the largest challenge I faced in my life up till today, but I have a good feeling about it. I will have quite some time to spare next year, as I’ll be only working on my thesis, and I’m therefore happy the General Assembly gave me the chance to fulfil this mandate. So I’ll do whatever I can to show them my gratitude.

The Voice - Good luck!