Fun lab activities in LDM lab
As humans, we learn and make decisions best when we are actively engaged and having fun. Fortunately, Hanneke understands this well. In our lab, we incorporate fun and engaging lab activities that help us to learn and connect with each other.
One of the most memorable lab activities in 2022 was the DEAR day at Plan A in Nijmegen. DEAR stands for Drop Everything And Read, and that is precisely what we did. We spent the day reading, writing, and having lunch together. This activity allowed us to disconnect from the outside world and focus on our learning in a relaxing and comfortable environment. We could ask each other questions, share insights, and discuss new ideas. In the evening, some of us went for dinner together with our partners at the Bite Club in Nijmegen.
We had also organised a social activity to have a DEAR day at a beautiful castle in Wijchen. Unfortunately, that didn't work out practically, but we didn't call it a day.
We continued our READ day at the Lobby in Nijmegen. There, we first had an interesting presentation by Elena on how to preprocess fMRI data and perform 1st-level analysis, then had delicious lunch, and afterwards worked on our own work. In the end, we still had a fun and productive DEAR day.
Another exciting lab activity was the Fun Lab Day at Huize Heyendael. We had a little Gitlab workshop by Benjamin, where we learned how to use Git to manage code and collaborate on our codes with project members. We also made a lab video, which was a fun way to express our creativity. In the evening, we had dinner at Plek in Nijmegen and went afterward to the Twilight (Schemerlicht) festival, an audiovisual art festival in Goffertpark. This was a great opportunity to get to know each other better, have fun, and learn about art and technology.
As icing on the cake, we watched the final lab video, which was edited by Benjamin and Soha, together during our Thanksgiving celebration. We laughed immensely at the humour in the video and our bloopers. For that evening, everyone had baked typical American recipes at home, such as green bean casserole, peacon pie, cornbread, roasted Brussels sprouts, and mac and cheese. The dinner was opened by Hanneke with a Turkey pardon speech written by Ben and continued with a round of thanksgiving. The food was surprisingly delicious and we enjoyed being together as a lab.
These lab activities were not only fun but also very effective in helping us to learn new skills and work in a new environment. They gave us a break from our traditional office life and allowed us to connect with each other in a more relaxed setting.