When you first hear about Jacobs University, you might think of it is a place full of nerds who are very arrogant, going to an elite private university, spending the whole time in their rooms studying. However, if you have this impression, you can’t be more wrong.

Of course, studying plays an important role in our lives, but especially here in Mercator College, life never gets boring. Throughout the whole semester a huge variety of events are organized by students to make our college experience more diverse and colourful.

The so-called CIDs - Country Information Days take place twice a semester. A group of students present their home country with native food and decorations during the day. In the evening a presentation takes place in our Mercator Common room, containing short theatre plays, information about the country’s people, history and geography. This allows the other students to get an insight into a completely different culture and it teaches us to be more respectful and tolerant to others.

Nevertheless, the CIDs are not the only thing Mercator College has to offer. Another very popular event are the Spirit Days, which aim to create a feeling of tradition, unity and belonging to the college. Face painting the freshmen blue as they are initiated into the college, walking around the whole day in Pajamas, celebrating the blue spirit during the Olympix, decorating the college for Christmas, colouring it red for Valentines or green for St. Patrick's or just some good old Pizza baking during the Italian Night - all these events form an integral part of the Mercator Spirit. And who can forget Mercatorstrasse - the amazing Mercator street festival where seeing students dressed as pirates or medieval lords is a common sight. There is also the cooking contest wherein all the floors in Mercator prepare cuisines from different parts of the world for everyone to savour and relish.

As already mentioned above, we also spend quite some time studying. Around midterm and final exams many Mercatorians experience stress and sometimes depression. For this reason our Mercator College Office Team organizes during these times our beloved Cheer Up Coffees. Students have the chance to go to the office in the evening, get some coffee, chocolate and snacks, hang out, relax, talk to friends, listen to good music and get their minds off studying for a while. Most times Cheer Up Coffees have different themes: “wellness” for example, where massages were provided; or stand up comedy where “Comedy Central” videos were screened. Cheer Up coffees are always very popular among students. They offer a perfect opportunity for a break from studying without making you feeling guilty - you are not the only one sipping coffee and simply doing nothing for some time.

Another event which Mercator is widely known for is the Vernissage . Mercatorians are very creative, and during the semester many pieces of art are produced. At the end of each semester students have the chance to submit their masterpiece to a jury, among which are our college masters. The 5 best pieces receive a prize, and all the pieces are exhibited around the college after a formal opening. This occasion has already become a tradition in the rather short life of our college.

But the events explained above are not the only ones which take place in our college.

In fall 2005, Mercator College inaugurated its first honorary members. In the evening of October 31 st at a small ceremony with sparkling wine and short video clips about their lives, the new members became officially part of our college. Mercatorians, as well as our Parliament representatives, chose Professor Bergholz, Professor Frohne, and Professor Welzel, and also our Aramark chief executive Mr. Paulik to become honorary members of our college. The intention is to involve professors and staff members more in student life as well as to promote and enhance understanding and communication. The honorary members help students with their expertise. For example our honorary member Ursula Frohne, a former professor in arts at Jacobs, has been one of the judges in the Vernissage.

We hope this gives you a small insight into our colorful college life at Mercator College.

The events described in this text are only the major ones and every day here is completely different from the previous one. The many nationalities of the students living here contribute to an atmosphere of diversity and creativity.

The events are a huge part of what forms the identity of Mercator College and contributes to a feeling of belonging for the students living here. They create and add variety and fun to the every-day life of the students.

(text by Saskia Dewitz, Ango Paul and Rahul Jain)