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‘What goes around comes around’

‘What goes around comes around’ 

According to the Oxford dictionary, it is a saying that means ‘the consequences of one's actions will have to be dealt with eventually.’

This week, a remarkable week for Wittenborg, also saw a milestone for myself. Whilst Wittenborg celebrates its 30th anniversary, almost 15 years ago to the day, Maggie and I started our journey with this wonderful institute, after having left the pioneering days of fledgling internationalisation at Saxion.Saxion Wishes Wittenborg University happy birthday

From 1995 to 2002 I had been at the forefront of developing international programmes at what became Saxion Universities of Applied Science, and when we left in the autumn of 2003, it was with the normal animosity that is sparked by rivalry. That was 15 years ago, and of course we carried on pioneering at Wittenborg until 2010, when we moved our university to Apeldoorn - but thats another story.

Today Wittenborg and Saxion share aGraduation Pabo Saxion 2018 higher education campus in Apeldoorn and there is a common goal - to maintain, improve and excel in higher education in the region.

This week started with the release of the ‘Study Choice Guide’ 2018 (Keuzegids), in which Saxion was ranked 4th in its group of large universities of applied sciences, and Wittenborg was ranked 4th in its category of ‘small’ universities of applied sciences.  Overall Saxion scored 60.5 and Wittenborg 83.5. Saxion has 56 different programmes, Wittenborg 1 broad bachelor with 10 programmes …. although its nice, you can see the ‘apples versus pears’ conundrum.

However, what was great was this - we ended last week celebrating the real anniversary of Wittenborg (21 September 1987), and started this week with a wonderful bunch of flowers, to congratulate us, from our neighbours, Saxion Hospitality Business School. 

On Tuesday, the circle was complete, when I attended my daughters graduation ceremony, at Saxion Deventer, where she was awarded a bachelor’s in Education (PABO). apart from being a very proud moment for a very proud Dad, and a wonderful occasion for all, I did have a feeling of ‘what goes around, comes around’.

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