The international center of the students’ bureau has a new director: Martial Rodrigues.

Martial is an architecture student with Franco-Portuguese origins who lived in many different countries since the age of 9 (France, Norway, Portugal and China).

After a year of preparatory class, he passed the entrance exam for the architecture school at INSA Strasbourg. He is very happy with his choice: he has made a lot of friends from participating in school activities. He also participates in sports at INSA Strasbourg, one of which being rugby.

Martial has become the leader of the international center of the students’ bureau because he wants to actively participate in promoting international mobility. He believes that his extensive experience abroad could be beneficial. He can handle diversity and certainly knows the difficulties but also the advantages of travelling.

His goal is to provide a comfortable environment for those who are far from their home country in order to help them succeed in their studies at INSA Strasbourg.

Thanks to his openness and enthusiasm, he has numerous ideas to foster relations between the students’ life office and international students.
For back to school he is co-organizing the welcome day with the service of international relations department. This event will take place on September 4^th and will consist of a presentation and a visit of INSA Strasbourg. Students will also meet their designates buddy and participate in a treasure hunt.

To maintain buddy relation Martial wants to start an initiative called world wide olympiade (WWO)  a tournament with many different challenges in students apartments. He is planning at least 3 or 4 evening parties each semester with different themes and games. At the end of the tournament the winning team will receive a prize at the last party of the semester.

The new director is also proposing that the INSA Strasbourg cafeteria be run by international students. With the money raised they could organize a group trip. Moreover, being involved in managing the cafeteria is a good way to be part of school life.

Martial would like to set this up so that students can feel at home at INSA Strasbourg. By connecting them with the students life activities, he hopes to help them have and unforgettable stay.

Adapted by Ryan Jolley and Giordano Viola

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