When students arrive at Schipol Airport ahead of their semester at Kasteel Well, they are greeted by Office of Student Affairs (OSA) staff members. OSA members serve as the main source of student support at the castle.
Whether students have questions about how to use the laundry machines or need help with medical concerns, OSA is usually a student’s first stop. Additionally, all students walk by the OSA team before heading to the dining hall for each meal, so it is easy to stop for a quick chat.
Bronwyn Vermaak, 29, the OSA coordinator, met the Fall 2024 students at Schipol Airport. Working for OSA since May 2022, Vermaak’s favorite part of her job is working with students and helping them adjust to their new lives abroad.
For some students, their semester at the Castle is their first time being abroad, Vermaak said. “I feel like I can really help students when it comes to dealing with culture shock and with becoming a little bit more adaptable and opening their perspectives a bit.”
Christine Cornelissen, 57, born and raised in Well, is the administrative assistant for OSA. As of November, Cornelissen has worked at Emerson’s Kasteel Well campus for 20 years. Over the years, she has made many connections with the students who spend a semester abroad.
“I love seeing everybody grow in that period that they’re here and then when they leave they made friends for life,” Cornelissen said. “I’m still in contact with several students from the first years that I worked here. I really love to see their [life updates].”
OSA is a very close-knit, five-person team, and Cornelissen says it is because everyone has the same goal for the students: “You all just want to make this the most memorable time of their life.”
Thei Janssen, 29, who began working with OSA at the beginning of the semester, enjoys seeing students eager to study abroad.
“It’s fun to see how excited a lot of students get for the travel breaks and the excursions,” Janssen said. “Growing up in the Netherlands, travel[ing through Europe] for me was [easy]. But, I can imagine for someone from America … that traveling outside of the country is strange and exciting.”
Before working with OSA, Janssen worked for COC Limburg, an LGBTQ+ rights organization with offices throughout the Netherlands. In October, Janssen planned an event called “Kasteel Well Celebrates,” which aimed to celebrate the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community. Throughout the event, multiple drag performances took place.
“I really liked ‘Kasteel Well Celebrates’ because I was able to work with one of my old colleagues and provide some information to the students,” Janssen said.
Omar Ramadhani, 27, who is also a brand new OSA member, is not new to the Kasteel Well campus. For a year before Ramadhani became an OSA member, he worked as an On Call Staff (OCS) member. OCS is the team on call throughout the night when OSA is not on campus. Ramadhani said the nights he worked as OCS were very calm, but he did not have a lot of interactions with students.
As of September, Ramadhani officially became a member of OSA. In this position, Ramadhani is being trained to take over as the resident assistant advisor for the castle, which he says is one of the nicest parts of the job.
“I would say I really like this part that I’m doing now as an OSA [member] with the RAs because I really enjoy that,” Ramadhani said. “And I also feel like I’m starting to get the hang of it.”
Ramadhani said that his supervisor, Dojna Krecu, was the reason he took the OSA job when the position opened.
“She really made me think to go [for] OSA,” Ramadhani said.
“I would say we have a very good work relationship,” he continued. “And she knows everything about everything.”
Dojna Krecu, 52, serves as the director of housing and residential life at the castle. Although Krecu began this position at the beginning of the semester, she has worked at Kasteel Well for 18 years.
Krecu describes the work of OSA as ensuring that students studying at Kasteel Well have a solid support system.
“In cooperation with Boston, we are trying to have as much support that Boston has for students,” Krecu continued, “and helping students be more self-reliant.”
Krecu’s favorite part of working at the castle is that each semester brings a unique group of students eager to study abroad.
“The work is very similar every semester, but the students are not,” Krecu said. “They have their own flow and movement during the semester. It’s not boring because every single thing is connected to a different personality.”
