Mona Passes the Student Counsellor Role to Fay After 24 Years at DAE

After almost 24 years at Design Academy Eindhoven, Mona is preparing to leave the student counsellor role. She first joined DAE as a coordinator, soon she became a mentor and then moved into student counselling. As she passes the baton of care to Fay, the work continues alongside Olga, with whom Mona has worked for years as a close student counsellor team. For Mona, Olga has been not only a wonderful colleague, they also became friends, supporting and inspiring each other in many ways.

“For me, the role of student counsellor has always been about being there for students: listening to them, looking for an open and honest communication, seeing how I can be of support,” Mona says. “I hope students leave a meeting feeling heard, having gained more clarity, strength and belief in what they can do.” Student counselling at DAE focuses on the wellbeing of students and on circumstances around studying. This can be very practical. Topics like study scenarios (in case of study delay), requests to the Examination Board, taking a gap year, study finance (DUO), etc. “Also, when students are dealing with personal circumstances that have an effect on their life and study, they come to see us,” Mona says. “This may concern stress, mental health issues, medical situations, or a serious personal event.” Mona is clear about the limits of the role. “We always tell students that we are not psychologists or psychiatrists,” she says. “Therefore, we refer students to seek for professional help outside the academy when needed.”

For Fay, having someone to talk to inside the school can make a significant difference. “Everyone hits a bump in the road along the way,” she says. “Sometimes friends or family can help, but sometimes you need to reach out to someone else who can help untangle what is going on and bring a little more calm to the chaos.” This is important within the specific environment of DAE. “It can be hard to fully grasp the day-to-day experience of studying at Design Academy Eindhoven from the outside,” Fay says. “DAE often feels like its own world, and quite an intense one. Students are managing multiple projects, ideas and materials, often while navigating uncertainty and high expectations. Talking to someone who is inside that world can be very helpful.”

The student counsellor’s office is a confidential space. Sometimes, with a student’s consent, the student counsellor may let a teacher team know about personal circumstances that are affecting their presence or progress. But of course, all learning outcomes and assessment decisions remain the responsibility of the teacher team.

Looking ahead, Fay is especially interested in making student counselling more visible and preventive, including evening workshops such as ‘Soft Skills for Hard Days’ and preparation sessions around intense moments in the curriculum. Fay says, “I want students to see the student counsellor as someone who proactively shares information and supports wellbeing in a bigger sense.” Mona sees this as an important next step: “I think that more focus on prevention would be an improvement.”

Looking back, what Mona takes with her are those moments when things become a bit easier for students. “I like seeing the student leave the room feeling a little lighter,” she says. For Fay, the message to students is simple: come before the problem is too big. “Do not carry the problem around for so long that you cannot carry it anymore,” she says. “If something is worrying you, just make an appointment and come to see us.”

For the DAE community, the handover means continuity. With Fay stepping into the role, Olga continuing as part of the student counsellor team, and Mona’s practice of care carried forward, the support students rely on remains in place. What develops now is not a change in care, but an expansion of it: more visibility, more prevention and the ongoing invitation to students to come before a challenge becomes overwhelming.