The IBCoM Awards: the annual event where we celebrate and reward the talents of our IBCoM students. Last night it was time to dress up and get ready for an evening of fun, entertainment and craziness. Although a lot happened, and many awards were presented, let me tell you about some of the highlights.
The show started with a surprising and entertaining opening song by the hosts Jan Smeets and Saaiqa Merali, in which they clearly explained how the show would be about us… but mostly them.
The tone was set. Many people laughed, including some teachers on the first row. And with that, the first two awards were presented: Social Media Tiger, won by our very own blogger Nicoleta Ciobanu, and The Library Citizen, Emina Mulagic.
But although the song by Jan and Saaiqa was fun and entertaining, none of the acts were able to beat the performance by Zazala Quist. Her performance, which she called ‘the story’, gave me goosebumps and according to the cheering, many people in the audience agreed. That is probably why, at the end of the evening, she received the IBCoM Talent award!
But before Zazala received that award, many other awards were presented. For example, the well-known category of Mr./Ms. Sunshine! That one person that always has a smile on their face, no matter where you run into them, was won this year by Juneal Holder. He entered the stage with a big smile on his face and the message that he ‘hoped to bring happiness to many others in the future’ – which of course automatically brought a smile on my face!
Another award winner that made me smile was Jay Lee, this year’s most entertaining lecturer. Also known as our first year statistics lecturer who told me in my very first statistics lecture that statistics is (according to research!) considered the sexiest job of this century. A well deserved award, since he made statistics somewhat bearable for many students.
But we cannot forget the memorable moment of the Chug Champion. Instead of counting the votes, the nominees were asked on stage to drink for their title. The first one to finish, won the award. But barely one second into the small competition Laurens van der Valk already raised his hand. To the surprise of many he was done before others even had the chance to start!
The evening was filled up with many crazy moments, as you might have noticed. For those who were there, they might remember the performance Jay KL (also known as Jay Lalwani) who made the entire audience stand up and join in on his party! Or the first ever IBCoM lecturer brave enough to enter the stage to do stand-up comedy, Jason Pridmore – which was (to some people, a little surprisingly), successful. Unfortunately I cannot talk about everything that happened, but I would definitely recommend that you go next year, and I’m having high hopes for the next IBCoMmittee that will organise this event. This year’s team has done a great job and I think everybody enjoyed it. I don’t think I will soon forget the performances by Zazala, Giani, Jay or Anouk, Marieke & Max, nor will I forget Juneal’s smile or David’s surprising proposal to Jan when he asked him to be couple goals with him (for that last one you needed to be there, so I suggest: just go next year!).
Award winners:
Social Media Tiger: Nicoleta Ciobanu
Library Citizen: Emina Mulagic
Successful Slacker: Berdan Kaplan
Most Inspiring Course: International and Global Communication
Life of the Party: Jay Lalwani
Mr./Ms. Sunshine: Juneal Holder
Most IBCoMpassionate: Anne-Merel van Kempen
Most Entertaining Lecturer: Jay Lee
Ultimate Teamplayer: Zephyr Shiho Sugito
Chug Champion: Laurens van der Valk
Couple Goals: Jan Smeets and David Boeren
Award for the IBCoM Support Staff
IBCoM Talent Award: Zazala Quist