A few minutes ago in a galaxy we know as the Milky Way...

it is a time of bad weather and relentless deadlines in the country of Belgium. John Smith, a twenty-years old engineering student specialised in the art of electricity, is dreaming of a hot and awesome summer vacation. He plans to travel across the continent of Europe to have one of the best vacations of his life. Perhaps even the BEST vacation...

Meanwhile, several miles away in a beautiful city called Nis, dark powers are rising. The Serbian Empire is threatened by hundreds of applicants trying to break into the city of Nis and their relentless hunger for knowledge and great parties might lead the entire city into chaos. The Empire, however, strikes back by asking trikcy questions and demanding a well-thought and well-written motivation letter of each of these applicants.

These demands have a terrifying effect on our hero. Is it not enough for him to tell the organisers that he just want to have a good time in Serbia and would love to join their course? Is it not enough for him to say that despite being a rather sociable and pleasant fellow, he still desires to take his social skills to the next level? That he loves writing, plays the bass guitar and is a great enjoyer of martial arts? Or that he even likes to cantus and knows how to make a party fun?

Desperate and broken, our hero is trying his best to write a relatively coherent and amusing motivation letter. He doesn't have much, but as his girlfriend always used to say: "Size matters not".

May the skills be with you too!

Hey, what up Barcelona :)

My name is YouKnowWho and I'm one of your fellow BESTies who's reaaaaaally friggin' excited to come to your course! Some things about me: I am 20 years old, a member of BEST Ghent, a sports lover (water polo and powerlifting my current favourites), a hard rock fan (currently Skillet and Breaking Benjamin), mentally stable (for now *eye twitch*), like to party, love my mom, am a likeable fellow (must be true, my mom says so), a voracious reader, Belgian celebrity (okay that's a lie), a health nut, comedy fanboy, student of life,... and a normal human being with dreams, goals, hobbies and friends :) One bad thing about me? I have sympathized with other Spanish teams than FC Barcelona, for which I should be punished.

Now let me tell you why I'd LUUUUURVE to be on your course! It really appeals to me because I've always loved building stuff and constructing my dream buildings. Even as a kid I spent hours and days and weeks building things (yes it was LEGO and Knex, but it still counts!). Sadly I never got around to pursuing architecture (as it turns out you can't do everything at once in life!) but it's always remained one of my interests, and I seize every opportunity I can to refresh my passion for it. The fact that your course combines this with 3D modeling and design just makes it more interesting. What's better than building LEGO pirate ships? Building LEGO pirate ships in 3D! Also (I'm not going to lie... again) of course one of the reasons I'm so excited is because you're in BARCELONA :)!! I love going to Spain and travelling around there, but to my shame, I've only went to Barcelona for one day yet. I visited some of the real 'big' things to see (Sagrada Familia, some of the works of Gaudi) , but I saw that there was so much more to do there that I didn?t have time for, so I vowed to return one day and make up for all of it :) And to explore the nightlife in Barcelona too ^^

Alright dear reader, by now you're probably tired of reading a bagazillion motivation letters and you want another beer, so I'll be quick and tell you why you'd like to have me on your autumn course! ^^ I'm fun(ny), social, outgoing, spontaneous, really interested in the course, a party animal, and I manage to have loads of fun wherever I am and in whatever situation I'm in! You will never see me bringing the party down, I like to make parties LEGENDARY ;) Also I don't need that much sleep so I can repeat the pattern every day and night! Accept me and I promise I will do everything in my power to make your course that little bit more awesome!

Get that next beer and hope to see you soon :) Cheers!

YouKnowWho

Hallo da!

AYE! Who am I? Hennie -Henniebal- Vector. How old am I? 19 years young Where do I live? Close to Ghent. What do I study? Computer Engineering in Ghent, Belgium’s greatest city ever build, and perhaps even the world, if there wouldn’t be the glorious city of Graz with its habitants. In my spare time I play basketball and still try to get into the NBA, try to break the beer pong record in a local pub, listen to rock music, participate in Rock-Paper-Scissors contests and, while having a nice glass of beer, I eat. A lot.

While doing so, drinking some Stella Artois and listening to Mayonaise by The Smashing Pumpkins the engineer deep inside of me started to think. “Those (Belgian) fries, a few minutes ago they were just mere potatoes without any taste, and now they’ve got a waaaay-too-delicious golden crust.” How the hell is that possible? I started to look on the internet, but couldn’t really find an answer.

A few days later some bastard, a friend of mine perhaps, told me about BEST, how AWESOME their courses were, how many great parties he had, how many amazing people he met and how great his lectures were, which surprised me, because he was just the same as me; a party animal whose goal on party’s is to stay as the last person standing. I became curious and started to look on their site.

And I was stunned. You damn mateys organize a mother-freaking SCIENCE IN FOOD course! But would I like the country? I took a quick look and saw Graz, Austria on the right of “Place”. Even more uber-wonderful! Austria, land of the wondrous Alp landscapes, Austria, one of the only lands who could match the Belgian beer brewing and drinking, Austria, with its people known for their “Gemuetlichkeit” and Graz, the beautiful city with its even more beautiful Old Town!

Then I read the schedule while listening to Bullet in the Head by Rage against the Machine (\m/) and I felt a shock going through my mind (luckily, not by a bullet). WONDERFUL! The schedule is way too cool! Loads of partying, City Rally, time enough to socialize (not only by drinking), time enough to consume and experiment with food. AYE!

Especially the latter part attracts me to BEST. Except for beer, one of the best things in the world is learning to know so many same-minded people from all over Europe, with their culture and habits.

I can’t express to you mateys how much I’d love to go and have this amazing 9 days lasting unforgettable experience. I’m ready to make it so, and without a doubt, you are ready to do so as well! Hoping to see you all in real life mateys! :D

Auf Wiedersehen,

Hennie

Ciao Roma!

You’ve probably been reading motivation letters all day long, but this is the one you’ve been waiting for! Or if this is the first letter you got your hands on, let me tell you: it’s immediately bull’s eye, which will save you countless hours of reading ;-)

But first things first, let me introduce myself: my name is Sander, and I’m a 20 year old student from Belgium, currently enrolled in the 2nd bachelor of Engineering Physics. Luckily however, I’m one of those students who actually has some other pastimes besides studying, namely gaming – great for training those reflexes and overall reaction speed! – and my even bigger passion, music. I play the alto saxophone in a wind band – see, I’m a real group person – and at home I also play the piano, at least until my brother or sister complains about the noise. Furthermore listening to music is like a 24/7 thing, but I’m not too picky about what I listen to. Did I mention yet I love making movie references? Or that I can windsurf? Or that I also speak French, besides Dutch and English? Only one way (*) to get to know me even better…

So now you know what makes me tick, but why would I possibly want to go on a BEST course in Rome? It’s not too hard to imagine: visiting the biggest cultural city of Europe, with so many monuments and historical sites that just one BEST course won’t be enough to uncover all of its mysteries. Climbing the Colosseum, just like Ezio in Assassin’s Creed. Making new friends from all over Europe, while enjoying the best company Italy has to offer, along with its fine wine and food. Of course you can count me in!

Not to mention the interesting topic: the world is dark, and full of terrors! So learning a bit about emergencies and how to handle them may prove someday to be a life saver, and I will have you to thank for! It wouldn’t be the first time someone took an arrow to the knee, but if Adele really could set fire to the rain, it requires one hell of an emergency plan, one I’d be willing – and loving – to help create. *insert dramatic music* Needless to say this course will give me the knowledge and strength to be the hero Gotha… errhm…, Rome needs, not the one it deserves! (See what I did there?)

Well, that’s about everything I could think of – before it got too boring – so, ti è piaciuto?

I hope to see you all in October,

Sander