The ins and outs of the Summer Vonk

Welcome back! The summer holidays are over, and we are all back on campus to not only earn EC’s, but also to catch up with those you haven’t seen since last academic year. Though it may have been a while since you have heard from some of those friends, it has not been too long since you have heard from us! During the holidays some of you have received our yearly physical edition of De Vonk on your doormat, filled to the brim with original articles and stories to entertain you while lying in the sun. For those who have not had the pleasure of reading through this masterpiece: take a read through this article to see what it is all about. If this article got you excited but you did not receive it in the mail, it can also be found in the digital archive.

Since the year 2019, when De Vonk finished its transition to a digital platform (from which you are reading this article right now!), the decision was made to discontinue the usual quarterly publication of De Vonk, this decision was made with an eye on sustainability and high printing costs. From there on, the format of De Vonk has changed from quarterly compilations of unique articles to a website that publishes new articles once every one or two weeks on Wednesday.

However, the editorial team found it a shame to let the physical bundles go entirely, so the decision was made to continue the physical publications, but only for once a year. Instead of only containing articles previously published online, but also some original articles written specifically for this publication. The aim is to send this Vonk to the press at the end of the academic year, such that it ends up on your doormat during the summer holidays.

And this year is no exception: this third edition of the ‘Summer Vonk’ has officially marked it as a tradition! To celebrate this feat, the editorial team went all-out to deliver the most unique edition of the Summer Vonk yet. Not only is this the largest edition yet (with a whopping 44 pages!), it also exclusively contains articles that are unique to this publication! This means that all articles are originally written for this Vonk (just like old time’s sakes), which cannot be found on the website (yet, but they can be found in the digital archive).

So if this Summer Vonk is so unique, cool and special, what kind of articles can I find in there? Well, though this publication can be considered ‘entirely original’, it does contain some content that may be familiar to you already. For example, we start off this Vonk with a note from the President of the 94th board, and afterwards you can read an introduction from the 95th board back when they were still a candidate board. Additionally, you can even find a publication of the SUN! Seems like your favourite FriAD (Friday Afternoon Drink) publication couldn’t wait until the next drink…

Aside from the usual, the Summer Vonk contains some light-hearted enjoyment for the summer holidays. Scattered through this Summer Vonk, you can read about the intensive research that the editorial team did on the pets of some Scintilla members. On the other hand, there are three puzzles to be found! Two of them even have a prize attached to it, so send us a mail if you think that you have found the answer!

Since this is a Summer publication, the editorial team aimed some of their articles towards some hobbies/activities that you could undergo to spend all of this free time. For example, this Vonk contains a masterclass on how to get started with crocheting, even presenting a tutorial on how to make your first crocheting creation. If sitting still is not your thing, you can instead try one of the two biking trails through Enschede, which have been described in detail in the back of this Summer Vonk.

But we also look at the past events of Scintilla. Aside from some photo collages of last year’s Scintilla activities, you can find an article about the previous study tour, here you can read all about the adventures that the members of SPOCK7 underwent in South Korea. Additionally, you can read about how the editorial team did a deep dive in Scintilla’s archives to uncover the bulletins: the means of communication before the age of e-mail and WhatsApp.

If you are holding the Summer Vonk in your hands and admiring the beautiful lay-out of these articles, did you know that you too can master this skill? You can join our editorial team to learn how to write and/or lay-out articles and together we can make the next edition of the Summer Vonk even better! We are still looking for people to expand our editorial team, so if you are interested in joining, send a mail to vonk@scintilla.utwente.nl and we will get in contact!