{"id":3615,"date":"2021-11-20T22:51:18","date_gmt":"2021-11-20T21:51:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/?p=3615"},"modified":"2021-11-23T14:44:23","modified_gmt":"2021-11-23T13:44:23","slug":"stepping-into-the-swamp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/3615\/stepping-into-the-swamp\/","title":{"rendered":"Stepping into the SWAMP"},"content":{"rendered":"

In one of the many big rooms on the campus of the Free University of Brussels, a crowd gathers in the evening. Dressed in many ways, from casual hoodies to lab coats and cloaks. All of them are members of SWAMP, the Society of Weird And Mad People. They come here tonight to celebrate, sing, and drink to their shared geekiness.<\/strong><\/p>\n

SWAMP is one of the many student associations of the university. Being hallmarked for their weekly (board) game nights and many roleplay events. Their vice-president, Quentin Delp\u00fctz, isn\u2019t even part of the university anymore, but his love for SWAMP and its people means he\u2019ll never be able to leave. The large room where SWAMP is meeting tonight has a basic set up, large wooden tables and benches. As soon as the lights are turned off the candles on the few tables illuminate the room. That is when the singing starts.<\/p>\n

\"\"

A room lit by candles, filled with a cheery crowd and drinks.<\/p><\/div>\n

Listen here to hear Quentin and Lotte De Smedt talk about their experiences and love for SWAMP:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/kamal-van-de-pol\/swamp-v2-audio-mixdown\/s-F8dQMuYhu0D?si=97d883002b154d6f896e3b9d6ab55488<\/p>\n

\u201cDo what you want to do, and don\u2019t do what you don\u2019t want to do.\u201d<\/h2>\n

Student associations have built up a track record for dangerous and even deadly initiations and baptisms, in Belgium a student died during an initiation event as recent as the 31st<\/sup> of October. Alcohol, odd challenges, and peer pressure can quickly make someone do things they\u2019d normally not do. SWAMP is vehemently against this kind of initiations and atmosphere.<\/p>\n

Quentin explains that SWAMP\u2019s baptism is done in the full spirit of their association. \u201cThis year we\u2019d just dress up as Vikings and then we play out a big game with a story.\u201d Their full initiations have a personalised task for everyone. \u201cBut if someone really doesn\u2019t want to do something or aren\u2019t comfortable, they can just say no. Then we move on and give them another task.\u201d<\/p>\n\n[aesop_quote type=”block” background=”#ffffff” text=”#000000″ align=”left” size=”1″ quote=”\u201cIt\u2019s more about having everyone be a big group, and always being in good vibes.\u201d” parallax=”off” direction=”left” revealfx=”off”]\n

Lotte adds how their club wants to attract people and make them feel accepted. \u201cMore so than be like, \u2018oh we are really exclusive, and you can only join if you do this, and this, and this.\u2019\u201d She thinks that letting people have a choice and participate on their own accord is a better way. \u201cBecause of that I think we\u2019re all just on big friend group, and I think that is really nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

SWAMP at one of their many game nights. \u00a9Fien Strijthaegen<\/p><\/div>\n

Weirdos<\/h2>\n

When asked about the impact of SWAMP on overall geek culture, and the acceptance, Lotte tells how there\u2019s often a lot of misconceptions about their association. \u201cI have heard from people before I even joined that I shouldn\u2019t join them because they\u2019re all weirdos. But I did join because of my cousin who was already in the board.\u201d Her experiences have been totally different than what others make it out to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really just an accepting group.\u201d Even people who are not into the same games as others can still find their place in the group. \u201cOne of my best friends in the association, I have almost nothing in common with when it comes to geeky stuff. But you can still get along and get to know people.\u201d Lotte does admit that there are stigmas attached to SWAMP, like every association. People come in with different expectations of SWAMP and what they do. \u201cThere have always been new people who come to our association, like the first couple events of the year, thinking it\u2019s something else than we actually are. But they usually don\u2019t come back afterwards.\u201d Quentin adds that these are very rare occurrences.<\/p>\n

Both of them blend into the crowd, joining in with the singing and drinking. On the ceiling is even a decibel meter, and with every new song the numbers tick just a bit higher than the last. Once the silence of the rest of the campus and city come back into play, the cheerful singing and atmosphere will quickly stay in the back of the mind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In one of the many big rooms on the campus of the Free University of Brussels, a crowd gathers in the evening. Dressed in many ways, from casual hoodies to lab coats and cloaks. All of them are members of SWAMP, the Society of Weird And Mad People. They come here tonight to celebrate, sing, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":443,"featured_media":3617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cbj","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nStepping into the SWAMP - International Journalism<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Stepping into the SWAMP - International Journalism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In one of the many big rooms on the campus of the Free University of Brussels, a crowd gathers in the evening. Dressed in many ways, from casual hoodies to lab coats and cloaks. All of them are members of SWAMP, the Society of Weird And Mad People. They come here tonight to celebrate, sing, […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/3615\/stepping-into-the-swamp\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"International Journalism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kamal.vandepol\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-11-20T21:51:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-11-23T13:44:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2021\/11\/WhatsApp-Image-2021-11-19-at-13.34.13.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1155\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kamal van de Pol\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kamal van de Pol\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/3615\/stepping-into-the-swamp\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/3615\/stepping-into-the-swamp\/\",\"name\":\"Stepping into the SWAMP - International Journalism\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/3615\/stepping-into-the-swamp\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/3615\/stepping-into-the-swamp\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2021\/11\/WhatsApp-Image-2021-11-19-at-13.34.13.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-11-20T21:51:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-23T13:44:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/#\/schema\/person\/445e8e34cdc9751c928ff80a8042b46f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/3615\/stepping-into-the-swamp\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/3615\/stepping-into-the-swamp\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/3615\/stepping-into-the-swamp\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2021\/11\/WhatsApp-Image-2021-11-19-at-13.34.13.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2021\/11\/WhatsApp-Image-2021-11-19-at-13.34.13.jpeg\",\"width\":2048,\"height\":1155},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/3615\/stepping-into-the-swamp\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Stepping into the SWAMP\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/\",\"name\":\"International Journalism\",\"description\":\"HU School voor Journalistiek Nieuwssite\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/#\/schema\/person\/445e8e34cdc9751c928ff80a8042b46f\",\"name\":\"Kamal van de Pol\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/76c1ef4563c1dcaaaccff52b0c93d4eea576ed2eda8f9ee56f79edf607315378?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/76c1ef4563c1dcaaaccff52b0c93d4eea576ed2eda8f9ee56f79edf607315378?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kamal van de Pol\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kamal.vandepol\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/armageddonpainting\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/kamal-van-de-pol-481a89193\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCvX9qz6Y3k0Mv3hS0LTcUqw?\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/author\/kamal-vandepol\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Stepping into the SWAMP - International Journalism","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Stepping into the SWAMP - International Journalism","og_description":"In one of the many big rooms on the campus of the Free University of Brussels, a crowd gathers in the evening. Dressed in many ways, from casual hoodies to lab coats and cloaks. All of them are members of SWAMP, the Society of Weird And Mad People. They come here tonight to celebrate, sing, […]","og_url":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/3615\/stepping-into-the-swamp\/","og_site_name":"International Journalism","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kamal.vandepol\/","article_published_time":"2021-11-20T21:51:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-11-23T13:44:23+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2048,"height":1155,"url":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2021\/11\/WhatsApp-Image-2021-11-19-at-13.34.13.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kamal van de Pol","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kamal van de Pol","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/3615\/stepping-into-the-swamp\/","url":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/3615\/stepping-into-the-swamp\/","name":"Stepping into the SWAMP - International Journalism","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/3615\/stepping-into-the-swamp\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/3615\/stepping-into-the-swamp\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2021\/11\/WhatsApp-Image-2021-11-19-at-13.34.13.jpeg","datePublished":"2021-11-20T21:51:18+00:00","dateModified":"2021-11-23T13:44:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/#\/schema\/person\/445e8e34cdc9751c928ff80a8042b46f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/3615\/stepping-into-the-swamp\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/3615\/stepping-into-the-swamp\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/3615\/stepping-into-the-swamp\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2021\/11\/WhatsApp-Image-2021-11-19-at-13.34.13.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2021\/11\/WhatsApp-Image-2021-11-19-at-13.34.13.jpeg","width":2048,"height":1155},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/3615\/stepping-into-the-swamp\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Stepping into the SWAMP"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/#website","url":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/","name":"International Journalism","description":"HU School voor Journalistiek Nieuwssite","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/#\/schema\/person\/445e8e34cdc9751c928ff80a8042b46f","name":"Kamal van de Pol","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/76c1ef4563c1dcaaaccff52b0c93d4eea576ed2eda8f9ee56f79edf607315378?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/76c1ef4563c1dcaaaccff52b0c93d4eea576ed2eda8f9ee56f79edf607315378?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kamal van de Pol"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kamal.vandepol\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/armageddonpainting\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/kamal-van-de-pol-481a89193\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCvX9qz6Y3k0Mv3hS0LTcUqw?"],"url":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/author\/kamal-vandepol\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/443"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}