Diemen (Mei 2010) - It was 5.30AM, 28th of May 2010, just after sunrise. A delegation of SIFE RUG members gathered at the Central Station of Groningen, just in time for a quick cup of coffee before we head south to… the SIFE National Competition! It promised to be a busy day, filled with lots of excitement and anticipation.

Still sleepy when arriving in Diemen, the team had only little time to perform a last check before the league draw started. Our team was placed in league one, together with reigning national champion Universiteit Leiden, newcomer Hanze Hogeschool Groningen and Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam.

Our team was the first one to present and calmly informed the audience about the past year and our projects. After our head speaker ended the presentation, it was time for the Q&A session. During this session, the judges, a selection of prominent business people, had the opportunity to ask critical questions about the projects and our plans for the future. A total of four questions were asked, which the presenting team handled really well, answering every questions with much confidence. After the presentation, one Erasmus student approached us, expressing much interest in our presenting style: “I really like the conversational setup, it was refreshingly different!” All in all, the reaction from both, the judges and the other SIFE teams, was a reward for weeks of preparing for the national competition.

As the league presentations came to its end, the judges decided on which team from every league would continue to the finals. Unfortunately for us, Leiden was given the honor of proceeding to the next round. However, the disappointment did not last long, as our team still had the unique opportunity to see the presentations of the other teams who made it to the finals.

Next to Leiden, Amsterdam, Maastricht and Utrecht were the presenting teams in the final round. Naturally, all of the four teams were impressive in their own way; however, especially Amsterdam proved to be both inspiring and entertaining. Our team was very impressed with their “Fietsforce” project, which involves reintegrating homeless youngsters back into society through means of a mobile bicycle repair shop. Our judgment turned out to be right, for shortly thereafter, Amsterdam was crowned the National Champion, who would defend the honor of the Netherlands in the fall in Los Angeles at the World SIFE Competition.

For our team, the day was a great opportunity to meet other SIFE teams and see what they achieved in the last year. It was a great source of inspiration. Seeing the presentation style and projects of other teams gave us plenty of new ideas and energy. No doubt about it: SIFE University of Groningen is going for the gold next year!