Tibor and Jan

To begin our interview, first some basics: What country where you were born and where else have you lived?
Tibor: I was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia in 1988. My mom is a mix between Serbian and Croatian, while my dad is Austrian-Hungarian. We moved to Harare, Zimbabwe in 1992 and that pretty much became my home.
Jan: I was born in Magdeburg, Germany in 1987 and lived there nearly all my life until I went to Wales, UK for two years to finish my high school at the United World College of the Atlantic and then came to Jacobs.

So what are your majors at Jacobs?
T: I started out as EECS, I switched to ECE, then to CS, and then I ended up changing to ISS. Abstract math + me = epic fail. ISS gave me a chance to broaden my horizons…I feel at home with the economics portion and hope to pursue a masters degree in business.
J: I started with ISS, came here mainly for it, and stayed with it… So I guess it was the right choice for me ;-) And I really enjoy the quantitative methods part in particular combined with the qualitative approaches and will continue with it through a PhD in Sociology starting this fall.

Describe a few personal traits or hobbies that you feel best describe your roommate:
T: Jan is, what people would call “a very efficient German”
He has a tendency to let his arms and hands flail about when he’s talking.
J: What can I say: If you can’t finish your tray of food…Hand it over to Tibor – good chances he will still be hungry.
Oh and if you every need help with room decoration: you can ask Tibor here too, he likes to rearrange his furniture and all on a permanent basis.

Which universities you would have chosen instead of Jacobs, and why did you settle on Jacobs in the end?
T: I was accepted to about 16 universities when I applied. Eleven in the States, and out of the other five, Jacobs was the only one in Europe. The others were in Canada. I decided to come here due to a greater cultural diversity as I was used to this coming from an international school in Harare. Oh, and money was a major determinant. But I would have gone to Hawaii Pacific University in a heartbeat if they gave me more of a scholarship.
J: I would have gone to a British university, most likely Edinburgh or York, but I also applied to and considered others. Essentially coming to Jacobs was firstly for the ISS program (this might surprise some people – it is not just a major full of people who don’t know what to do… many come specifically for it), but most importantly the internationality after my two years in Wales were I got so used to it and learned to treasure it tremendously.

First things you do when you wake up:
Tibor puts on some music, goes to the bathroom, and then gets some food. Jan always takes his showers in the morning and then gets coffee so he can survive the day.

Are there times when you have conflict?
T: No conflict really. Ah, however, sometimes we do “harmonize” in terms of bathroom use. Let’s just say that when one of wants to go numero dos, the other one wants to too.
J: It actually is quite scary how often I came back from class and wanted to do exactly what Tibor was just doing then… scary… is that how men synchronize?

How do you find life as a senior?
T: Can anyone say “thesis”?
J: I can: Thesis… I also have to finish this interview soon, because I need to finally get done with my draft.

How about activities and life on campus; what exactly are you involved in?
T: Not many activities. I just go to the gym regularly and go running. No time to get involved into much more. Juggling work + personal interests (Prison Break, Heroes, South Park, etc…) + girlfriend + crazy German roomie = time consuming. Jan does a lot…I sometimes don’t know how he manages. I really feel lazy around him.
J: I have problems sitting around for too long… and I mean problems; I wish I could get a little more of the ability to successfully calm down and relax (but maybe there is still hope and Tibor can teach me a little!). I enjoy the MUN work… BRIMUN for two years, this year organizing the MUN Society, parliament has been a big (often quite draining ;-) part of my time here of course and recently I also enjoyed getting something creative back with acting in the Vagina Monologues.

Are there things about Jacobs you would change?
T: The Aramak trucks in the morning are extremely loud.
J: I would say most of the things that we have been trying to push admin to do from the student parliament side (check the minutes ;-). Oh, and encourage more animals on campus (like the ducks)… In our first year someone suggested goats… Sadly that never happened.

How do you feel you have changed since coming to Jacobs?
T: I didn’t change much. I was an international kid so I was used to everything. Also, I was always extremely liberal, so again, nothing much changed.
J: I think I stayed loyal to myself, but I also developed in a number of ways and I hope it was to the better.

Who would you refer to as your favourite professor?
T: Marco Verweij – he’s an absolute nutcase; same goes for Paul Crowther. Both prove that you can be intelligent without acting like it!
J: Hard one… I agree with Marco Verweij, incredibly intelligent and mind challenging while so … normally confused – and Adalbert FX Wilhelm: for the awesome name, and for being one of the funniest professors alive (if you understand stats humour ;-)

Do you have a particular favourite food?
T: Everything…except for this black stuff I ate in Serbia…What exactly was that?
J: About everything Tibor would eat. Oh, One exception: syrup on any meat (Schnitzel, etc)… don’t ruin my meat.

How about your favourite color?
T: On behalf of my colorblind father: everything except green and red. :P
J: green

Why College 3?
T: We love C3 just because it’s awesome…shhhhh…….if you listen closely……you can actually hear the drama in the other colleges…
J: Three years in the same block… speaks for itself

What would be the best vacation you could think of?
J: Taking a whole year off and just travelling wherever I'd feel next to go to. No previous plan, just actually exploring the world. With knowing people from Jacobs and my old school that shouldn’t be so difficult… Just really feeling free and rich (in a non-material way). … But this probably will have to wait until my stupid tuition postponement is paid back…. Some distant day in the future

Future plans and dreams:
T: As stated before, business is my future. Hopefully I will get accepted to a master’s program somewhere along the Gold Coast of Australia. Yea, that’s the life. That’s pretty much it…not even thinking about work yet. Let me soak up the sun and get my master’s first, then we’ll talk.
J: I am incredibly excited for my PhD in Edinburgh starting this fall. Three years ahead with that. Hopefully some amazing summers in between (still don’t have a plan for this one though… so if you have any suggestions let me know). And then… set out to change the world. And I mean that with all sincerity (oh and visit Tibor when I run out of food and to catch up with the sun when Edinburgh gets too cold).