Emerging into a new world....

It is April 2021 .... and the Netherlands are still in lockdown. It feels normal by now. My daughter complains about the hassle of having to go to school twice a week. We have never played so much ‘Queenie’ (Irish card game) before. I try to remind myself that this is not the ‘new normal’. We will go back to a life where we meet and work and live together face-to-face as well as online.

It has started to dawn on me, though, that by then the SHE-world will have dramatically changed. Some of my PhD-students have become colleagues, my old boss is now simply an MHPE teacher, my new boss has reorganized the SHE-structure, and my own role has changed too. I am looking forward to leading SHE-Educates. My head is full of ideas to explore: new ways to connect our research and the courses we offer, new collaborations with SHE-Collaborates, new ways to involve our students and alumni, new external partnerships.

 "Sometimes it snows in April"

Then I look outside, and see the snow. It puts me firmly back with two feet on the ground: I am still at home and my first priority is to get the new MHPE curriculum up and running. Online again. My stomach turns: one month to go.... Luckily, there is a bright future to dream about :-)

Daniëlle Verstegen, MHPE Director and SHE Management Team member