TRACKING THE PULSE The CUE Newsroom Stories, Sparks, Snapshots — From Our World to Yours. NEWS – Onboarding Gabriella Thompson as CUE’s Strategic Partner — June 1st, 2026 Our partnership with OBOV, established in April 2025, has already yielded fruitful projects and great exchanges of ideas. Over the past year, Gabriella and our founder, Xixi, have maintained regular communication through calls and emails, and we truly appreciate Gabriella for her unwavering support, thoughtful guidance, and the generosity with which she has shared her expertise. Her insights have been instrumental in shaping our collaborative efforts. Today, we are excited to take this further by officially recognizing Gabriella as our strategic partner. We look forward to deepening our collaboration and achieving even greater milestones together. IMAGE: A photo of Gabriella next to OBOV’s photo Gabriella Thompson is the Co-Founder and Secretary Director at Stichting Our Bodies Our Voice (OBOV), with over eight years of dedicated experience in social safety, and more specifically, sexual violence prevention in higher education. Since OBOV’s inception, Gabriella has been steering its growth from a student initiative into a trusted institutional partner across the Netherlands. As CUE’s Strategic Partner, Gabriella leads the collaboration between CUE and OBOV. In this cross-organizational role, she aligns programming and coordinates joint campus initiatives. Over nearly a decade, Gabriella has developed, piloted, and continuously refined OBOV’s evidence-based training. She has facilitated hundreds of interactive workshops at major academic institutions—including the University of Amsterdam (UvA), Leiden University, and Amsterdam University College (AUC)—reaching thousands of students, study associations, and staff members. Her specialist training modules cover boundaries, communication, consent, bystander intervention, active listening, party culture, and comprehensive survivor support.  Beyond the workshop floor, Gabriella’s eight-year tenure has made her a trusted senior consultant for institutional change. She advises university boards and administrative bodies on the structural reform of reporting mechanisms, the optimization of help-seeking pathways, and the development of sustainable, trauma-informed policies.  Having lived in France, Germany, the United States, and the Netherlands, Gabriella brings a deeply personal understanding of how globalization and migration affect the way people connect. For the future of CUE and OBOV, she looks forward to bringing a globally informed, human-first perspective to consent programming that speaks to the diverse realities of students today. IMAGE:  A list of service OBOV offers

IN FOCUS The CUE Dispatch Evidence, Echoes, Effects Peer Survey Report at SMIC: A Comprehensive Analysis of Preparation Gaps and Support Needs for Study Abroad– March 15th, 2026 Researcher and Editor: Nicole Breiteneder CUE NOTES:   Nicole’s volunteer role started in February and lasted till April 2026. This volunteer role supports CUE in listening to student voices about the transition from high school to studying abroad or entering a global education environment. Nicole helps distribute an anonymous peer survey within the SMIC Private School in Shanghai (Chinese: 中芯学校) and summarizes general themes from the responses. Nicole has written a diary about this experience; you can read it here. We thank Nicole for her dedication to this surveying process and appreciate her professionalism and thorough commitment. The purpose of this volunteer role is to: (1) Collect student perspectives on studying abroad and the transitional experience towards a global student life; (2) Help CUE better understand students’ real concerns, expectations, and needs; (3) Ensure future programs are informed by student voices. Note: This work does not involve teaching, counselling, evaluation, or sensitive data collection.   This analysis examines survey data from 25 secondary school students planning to pursue higher education abroad. The findings reveal significant disparities between students’ confidence in certain preparation areas and their readiness for others, particularly regarding academic expectations and practical life skills. While students demonstrate strong social and emotional motivation for international study, they report substantial concerns about academic pressure, social integration, and daily self-sufficiency.   Section 1: Participant Demographics and Study Intentions The survey captured responses from 25 students across grades 10 through 12, with the majority being Grade 11 students (20 participants, representing 80% of the respondent pool). Grade 12 students comprised 12% (3 participants), while Grade 10 students accounted for 8% (2 participants). A notable finding emerges from participants’ post-secondary intentions: all 25 respondents (100%) indicated they are planning to study abroad, with no respondents expressing uncertainty or disinterest in international education.    Section 2: Information Sources and Preparedness Assessment Q4: “Where do you currently get information to prepare for studying abroad? (Choose all that apply)”     When asked to identify their primary sources of information for study abroad preparation, students demonstrated a stronger reliance on interpersonal and informal channels over formal institutional offerings. The most frequently cited sources were: Teachers and counsellors emerged as the dominant information source, utilized by 92% of respondents (23 students). Parents and family members were closely followed, with 88% of students (22 respondents) relying on familial guidance. Online resources and social media were utilized by 84% of participants (21 students), demonstrating the importance of digital information channels for contemporary students. Friends who studied abroad served as information sources for 80% of respondents (20 students), indicating the value of peer experience and the potential effectiveness of peer mentorship models in transition programming.   Analysis: Directly trusted individuals, such as instructors, family, and friends, are the most popular sources. This suggests that individual counselling has a greater impact than official information seminars or independent research. School workshops were notably underutilized, with only 32% of students (8 respondents) reporting attendance. This could mean: Students may not know about them; Workshops may not be frequent or convenient; Students prefer direct advice from teachers or family instead.   IMAGE 1: Screenshot of Nicole’s final report, Participant Overview; IMAGE 2: Data on Information Source  Preparedness Assessment Across Key Domains Q5: How prepared do you feel in each of the following areas before going abroad? (1 = Not prepared at all, 5 = Very prepared)   Students rated their preparedness across six domains using a five-point scale, revealing notable variations in confidence levels: Maintaining relationships with family across borders and time zones received the highest average rating at 4.20. Adapting to new cultures and environments was followed by an average rating of 3.88. Managing mental health and making friends in a new culture both received average ratings of 3.68. Performing daily life skills (including budgeting, cooking, and travel) received an average rating of 3.48. Meeting academic expectations in a new system received the lowest rating at 3.32. Analysis: The difference implies that students are much more confident about maintaining family ties than they are about meeting the demands of a new educational system. Students often feel emotionally and socially ready to study abroad because they are excited about experiencing a new culture, meeting new people, and gaining independence. They often feel less prepared, though, both practically and academically. One explanation is that academic systems in other nations can differ greatly from their own, with new teaching philosophies, grading schemes, and expectations in the classroom. Practically speaking, students could feel unprepared to handle practicalities in a foreign nation, such as housing, transportation, visas, healthcare, and money management. Many students may be unsure about how to manage these obligations overseas because they have little experience handling them independently. IMAGE 1: Screenshot of Survey Question 5; IMAGE 2: Data on students’ Feelings About Preparedness  Section 3: Analysis of Student Concerns and Emotional Needs Q6: Which of these do you worry about most when you think about studying abroad? (Choose up to 3)   When asked to select their top three concerns about studying abroad, students identified the following as most pressing: Top Concerns Academic pressure — 76% (19 students) Not fitting in socially — 48% (12 students) Managing emotions alone — 40% (10 students) Group the Concerns into Themes Theme 1: Academic Challenges Academic Pressure – 76% Language Differences – 12% Average level: 44% Social and Emotional Adjustment Not fitting in socially – 48% Managing emotions alone – 40% Feeling lonely/isolated – 36% Average level: 41.3% Theme 3: Cultural Identity and Adaptation Culture shock – 20% Losing identity – 12% Average level – 16% Theme 4: External or Family Pressure Family expectations – 8% Poverty – 4% Average level: 6% Analysis: According to the research, ambiguity and perceived pressure in foreign environments—particularly in areas where performance and adaptation are required—are the main causes of students’ anxieties about studying abroad. Being placed in a

TRACKING THE PULSE The CUE Newsroom Stories, Sparks, Snapshots — From Our World to Yours. NEWS – VNC Article Publication by CUE Founder Xixi, about China’s Healthcare System Reform — June, 2026 NOTE: In the autumn of 2026, Vereniging Nederland China (VNC) will organize a group trip to China centred on the theme Healthy Living in China, exploring topics such as exercise, nutrition, and preventive healthcare. In preparation for this journey, our founder XiXi Wang has been invited to write a three-part series on healthcare in China for this website. In this series, Xixi Wang discusses China’s health landscape, national policy reform, modern wellness trends (spas, hobbies, lifestyles), and digitalization in wellness and healthcare. We appreciate VNC’s invitation and will keep updates on these articles as they are published through 2026. Summary and Introduction This article uses the story of “Uncle Chen”—who travelled four hours for care, faced long waits, and lost 40% of his annual income to medical bills—to illustrate the deep cracks in China’s pre-2016 healthcare system. Before the “Healthy China 2030” blueprint, the system suffered from four major problems: an “inverted pyramid” that concentrated specialists and medical resources in big cities, a 15% drug markup that encouraged over-prescribing, fragmented insurance that barely reimbursed patients and couldn’t be used across provinces, and a rising wave of chronic diseases overwhelming families. Launched in 2016, Healthy China 2030 shifted the focus from treating illness to maintaining health. Since then, key reforms have delivered tangible results: A national family doctor program brought care closer to home. The 15% drug markup was abolished and bulk procurement cut medicine prices. Insurance became portable through a unified national platform and shareable among family members. Prevention campaigns now target lifestyle changes, early cancer screening, and chronic disease management. While challenges like uneven primary care quality and mental health gaps remain, the transformation has been remarkable. Average life expectancy now exceeds 79 years. The true test, however, will be whether Uncle Chen’s story becomes unthinkable to his grandson’s generation. Read the full article in Dutch or in English. IMAGE 1: Dutch version of the article; IMAGE 2: English version of the article “The VNC (visit website) is an independent active association dedicated to sharing knowledge and networking in the cultural, business and educational fields in order to create better dialogue and cooperation between the Netherlands and China. To this end, we regularly organize events and publish interesting articles in our periodical ChinaNU+. We do this non-profit, without political or religious affiliation and with purely unpaid volunteers as board and staff. We have been doing this for more than 48 years.”   “ChinaNU+ is a magazine that has been in publication for 50 years. Now fully digital, the magazine is published by Vereniging Nederland China and aims to share knowledge about China. We publish new articles on a continuous basis and compile them into an edition every quarter. From now on some articles are accessible to members only. All our articles – on China’s culture, economy, and science – are written by an enthusiastic editorial team and leading authors, all volunteers.” IMAGE: A screenshot on ChinaNU+ webpage

CUE Diary – Insights from Behind the Scenes, Reflections on My CUE Volunteer Experience at YCIS — June 22nd, 2026 Student Volunteer: Angelique Caballero Yang CUE NOTES:   Angelique served as a volunteer with CUE from May to June 2026, supporting the scriptwriting process for the Becoming Lab. In this role, she established a student review board at YCIS Pudong (Yew Chung International School of Shanghai) and facilitated their evaluation of CUE’s scripts. Angelique is a student at YCIS, a former student council co-president and media executive director, now heading into biomedical engineering with a heart for community and service for her undergraduate studies.    The objectives of her volunteer work were threefold:(1) To collect student feedback by prompting discussions with questions about overall impressions, intellectual/emotional/personal resonance, and the elements that stood out most.(2) To provide CUE with valuable insight into student perspectives, ensuring that once the scripts are animated, the narratives and key messages authentically speak to young audiences.(3) To ensure that student voices remain central to the development of our programs.   We extend our sincere thanks to Angelique for her unwavering dedication, professional conduct, and meticulous commitment to this surveying process.  At the end of the internship, looking back, I’m relieved it went so smoothly. Despite squishing this internship block amidst my graduation and graduation trip and various other commitments, I was determined to go through with it. Having gotten to know Xixi from the Thrive Tribe presentations, I was excited about beginning my first internship after exams. After receiving a detailed report from Xixi about what I should do during the internship, it helped set a clear map in my head of what I needed to do.   IMAGE: Students discussing scripts with snacks. The first two days consisted of me getting to know the CUE, the scripts and beginning to collect students willing to participate in the script reviewing process. As I gained a deeper understanding of my role, I began to become more invested in the internship. It isn’t every day that you get to see the behind-the-scenes for an educational video you usually see in school, much less help to improve it. It never really occurred to me that these educational videos were targeted towards students, as it mostly felt like a required step that teachers had to take in completing the curriculum. As a result, I was determined (as much as I could be after final exams) to develop these scripts so other students would be able to genuinely learn and enjoy educational videos. IMAGE #1: Notes from student’s script review; IMAGE #2: First script reviewing session with pizza for lunch The first day of the script reviewing process was very fun. I was unsure about the responses I would receive from the scripts and was afraid it would be quite a dull process. Luckily, most of the students participating in the script-reviewing process/ focus group were my friends, so naturally, it was very comfortable for everyone to speak up about their true opinions on the script. Several students were also able to provide very nuanced opinions on improvements that could be done on the scripts. We were also able to delve deeper into our own experiences as TCKs and international students.   IMAGE #1: Students reading and discussing the scripts; IMAGE #2: View of YCIS Pudong campus Overall, this was a very educational experience. Through being part of the reviewing process, I was also able to learn from the scripts and use others’ advice to see how the scripts could be improved.At the same time, I noted that not every student expressed the same amount of anxiety. Some seemed considerably less concerned about adjusting to a new environment, which provided me a unique perspective on how they approach the prospect of studying abroad. While some students were preoccupied with social or emotional issues, others were more secure or even thrilled about change. This made me understand how different people’s perceptions and experiences are, and how not everyone feels the same level of uncertainty or pressure during transition.   IMAGE: Finishing compiling everything in a document in Spain

TRACKING THE PULSE The CUE Newsroom Stories, Sparks, Snapshots — From Our World to Yours. NEWS – Our Curriculum Developer Rosanna Ho is Relocating Back to Vancouver — June 2nd, 2026 Rosanna is returning to Vancouver following more than a decade of professional accomplishments in Beijing and Shanghai.    From summer 2023 to fall 2024, she was instrumental in shaping the ideation phase of the Transition Into Global Student Life series, contributing through strategic brainstorming and close consultation with our founder, Xixi. In fall 2024, Rosanna stepped into the role of Curriculum Developer for the Becoming Lab. As the program’s primary researcher and curator, much of her impact operates behind the scenes: synthesizing extensive literature reviews, critical thinking, counselling experience, and iterative refinement into digestible takeaways and resonant narratives. Her work is quiet, dense, and deeply generative, turning raw insight into personal and relational learning. The past three years of collaboration have been an incredible pleasure. After she returns to Vancouver, she will continue this work. On June 2nd, Rosanna and our founder Xixi shared a farewell dinner in Shanghai, where they reflected on three years of collaboration and looked ahead to what’s next together. In this news piece, we look back on some of Rosanna’s key contributions at CUE, as well as her achievements as an independent counsellor for youth. IMAGE: Rosanna and Xixi’s goodbye dinner in Shanghai  It Always Starts with a Call. Every script we create begins the same way: a call between our Rosanna and Xixi. We ask ourselves, “What real-world experience feels exactly like this research data?” “What are the most recent stories we heard from parents and schools?” “How was it like for me when I was entering university?” “How have social media and the internet changed students’ transitional experience?” This isn’t a generic brainstorm. It’s a laser-focused conversation about one thing: “What must the learner believe, feel, or do differently after this learning session?” That single takeaway becomes our North Star. It guides every decision that follows, from which research papers we cite to which metaphors we choose. Without it, we’re just animating facts. With it, we’re crafting transformation.  IMAGE: Rosanna and Xixi’s chat history documenting some of their calls Revise. Revise. And Revise Again. If you think writing the script is the main event, think again. The real craft happens in the revision loop, and we mean several of them.     Rosanna and Xixi go back and forth, layer by layer: First, we check the heart. Does the emotional arc in the stories land before we even look at the learning takeaways? If not, we rewrite. Then, we check the head. Do all knowledge pieces hold up against the original research? If not, we replace them. Next, we think like animators. Can this plot be drawn in five seconds or less? If not, we find a simpler visual anchor. Finally, we cut. Ruthlessly. We trim and trim because we need to respect high schoolers’ tight schedule, and cognitive load is real.  By the time we send the scripts out to our group of Advisors, the scripts have been rebuilt multiple times. And that’s exactly how we like it. We move thoroughly. Every frame, every line of dialogue, and every visual metaphor is the product of a multi-layered development process that begins not at the drawing board, but in the field.     At the end of the day, we believe that complex ideas should be made concise yet unforgettable, and that takes the time it deserves. By June 2026, we are 2/5 through the script production process, and we keep the good work going! IMAGE:  Drafts during the script production process Our commitment to field research also takes the form of live, community-centred events, because some of the most powerful learning happens through genuine human dialogue and in community. In partnership with United Family Healthcare (UFH) Shanghai, in October 2025, Rosanna and Xixi co-created and hosted a panel event exploring a topic that resonates deeply with families: the emotional and psychological adjustment of relocating for overseas studies (you can read the recap here).   Leaving home for education abroad is rarely just an academic transition. It is a life transition, fraught with cultural shifts, identity questions, and quiet anxieties that students and parents often struggle to articulate. To share our perspective and better understand today’s parents and students, we brought together three distinct voices, each offering a unique vantage point: a father, a therapist and an alumna. This event exemplifies everything CUE stands for: research-informed, human-centred, and action-oriented. The event also reinforced our commitment to bringing together research, real voices, and trusted partners like UFH to create life transition spaces where people feel seen, heard, and equipped. IMAGE:  Panel Event at UFH Jing’an Campus, Shanghai IMAGE:  Rosanna and Panellists  Rosanna also advised on the R&D of the Bridgework Journal. This journal is a companion through one of life’s most meaningful transitions, from high school to college or university. As students move through the weeks, they’ll unpack motivations, map expectations, build emotional tools and terminologies, and deepen self-awareness for their upcoming global education. It offers 52 weeks of “snack-sized” content, 2- 15 minutes each week, depending on how much depth a student wants to dive in.  IMAGE:  The Bridgework Journal The Bridgework Journal was designed in 2024 and shared with the public for the first time at Nord Anglia International School Shanghai Pudong (NAIS) in Shanghai during its Christmas Market in December (Read more about the event in the CUE Newsroom). IMAGE:  2024 Christmas Market at NAIS  Aside from collaborations with CUE, Rosanna has also curated events and built partnerships with schools and organizations in Shanghai over the years.   She partnered with the Rotary Club of Shanghai and the Interact: Rotary Sponsored Club at North Cross Xinhe School to host an anxiety-relief workshop for the leaders of tomorrow. The biggest breakthrough in the room was de-linking self-worth from performance (read on LinkedIn). She also led an Overcoming Anxiety workshop for teens at Shanghai Shangde Experimental School, which was a collaboration with the Shanghai

TRACKING THE PULSE The CUE Newsroom Stories, Sparks, Snapshots — From Our World to Yours. NEWS – CUE Founder Xixi to Write Three-Part Healthcare Series for Vereniging Nederland China (VNC) — January, 2026 In the autumn of 2026, Vereniging Nederland China (VNC) will organize a group trip to China centred on the theme Healthy Living in China, exploring topics such as exercise, nutrition, and preventive healthcare. In preparation for this journey, our founder XiXi Wang has been invited to write a three-part series on healthcare in China for this website. In this series, Xixi Wang discusses China’s health landscape, national policy reform, modern wellness trends (spas, hobbies, lifestyles), and digitalization in wellness and healthcare. We appreciate VNC’s invitation, and will keep updates on these articles as they are published through 2026. As the Founder of CUE (since 2020), Xixi sees supporting people through key life transitions as her life’s mission. She is passionate about bridging knowledge across borders and advancing health equity, with previous research-informed articles reaching over 20 million readers in China and the U.S. It is both an honour and a pleasure for her to have been invited to write on health topics. “The VNC (visit website) is an independent active association dedicated to sharing knowledge and networking in the cultural, business and educational fields in order to create better dialogue and cooperation between the Netherlands and China. To this end, we regularly organize events and publish interesting articles in our periodical ChinaNU+. We do this non-profit, without political or religious affiliation and with purely unpaid volunteers as board and staff. We have been doing this for more than 48 years.” IMAGE 1: The 1st online meeting among Xixi, and VNC editors Lilian Kranenburg and Marilou den Outer; IMAGE 2: the VNC logo “ChinaNU+ is a magazine that has been in publication for 50 years. Now fully digital, the magazine is published by Vereniging Nederland China and aims to share knowledge about China. We publish new articles on a continuous basis and compile them into an edition every quarter. From now on some articles are accessible to members only. All our articles – on China’s culture, economy, and science – are written by an enthusiastic editorial team and leading authors, all volunteers.” IMAGE: A screenshot on ChinaNU+ webpage

TRACKING THE PULSE The CUE Newsroom Stories, Sparks, Snapshots — From Our World to Yours. NEWS – At the University of Amsterdam (UvA): Students Review Our ‘What Fruit Are You Today?’ Tool — April 17th, 2026 Editor: Xixi Wang In April, CUE launched our new tool, ‘What fruit are you today?’ It’s part of the Transition Into College Dating Life series and builds on our earlier ‘Intimacy IQ Test.‘ This new tool has been a long time coming…frankly, I’ve been thinking about it for the past four years and just never got it onto our priority list. Haha, talk to me about priority lists in a startup. It’s from here to Mars.   After taking the ‘Intimacy IQ Test,’ learners receive a 2,500-word report designed for real educational and self-reflective purposes. It worked perfectly for in-depth workshops, personal discovery, and a more serious take on learning about consent. But trust me, we’ve already tweaked it at least 30 times to make sure it’s not too serious or scary (because yes, the word ‘consent’ alone scares people off and shuts them down). That’s why we chose the ‘self-discovery test’ format in the first place, while trying very hard to keep the language engaging—even intriguing—but still educational and serious enough, yet not too dry, technical, or hard to read.   Creating content and services on this topic has been a far more challenging journey than any of us likes to admit. There’s the constant battle of balancing precision of messaging, moral guidelines as researchers, scholars, and knowledge curators, and the (potential & real) emotional responses and reactions from collaborators, young learners, and general followers.   After three years of piloting and running the ‘Intimacy IQ Test’ and workshops (read, for example, 2023 at Leiden University, 2024 at Utrecht University), I really wanted to try something different. I believe people learn best right in the moment. Or even better, right before. There’s compelling evidence that micro-interventions delivered in authentic social contexts significantly increase knowledge retention and behaviour change compared to detached learning in a classroom (see: “teachable moments” in health behaviour research). So yeah… “What Fruit Are You Today?” isn’t meant to sit on a student well-being website, nor to sit students down in a classroom. It’s meant to be used where the party is. Because that’s where things actually happen. And that’s where learning either dies or comes alive. IMAGE 1: 17 Fruit Characters; IMAGE 2:  Students with their fruit result cards at Club Maggy For this new tool, we created 16 fruit characters, thanks to a few brainstorming sessions with our student interns (Lena, Camilla, and Federica) and our very experienced partner, Gabriella, at OBOV (Our Bodies Our Voice). For the first trial run, CUE was kindly invited by a Utrecht University sorority, Viatores, to join their annual party at Club Maggy in Utrecht on April 7th. It was an exciting and encouraging success! You can read more about the first trial run and our design thinking behind this tool here. We wanted a more in-depth student review of the tool, so our interns brought it with them to Amsterdam. It happened to be the Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), and our partner OBOV, along with a student board at UvA, was hosting a workshop on consent. We asked them if we could join and contribute to the conversation. Together, the students chatted about sexual consent as an evolving concept, then experienced our new tool as a group. I heard the tool sparks genuine interest and a lot of fun conversations. And honestly? That’s exactly what we wanted. IMAGE: A photo of UvA campus on the day While I wasn’t there in person, I heard stories and recaps from our interns and Gabriel. Since it was a small group, conversations went into more detail, and students were quite open about their thoughts on the tool. Everyone was excited to see which fruit they’d get; the cute designs made them genuinely look forward to receiving their results. Most students agreed with the fruit they received and could see themselves in the descriptions. They quickly became interested in what their peers were getting and which characteristics matched which fruit. One particularly intuitive student guessed her friend’s fruit before she took the test. When the result came back? Exactly what she’d guessed. The Considerate Coconut. This was surprising from a designer’s perspective; I never imagined anyone could guess the fruit ahead of time.  This trial run also set aside some of our basic worries. For instance, all fruits are recognizable and known. No negative sexual connotations were brought up around the fruit characters. Nobody got offended by the fruit they received (although one student didn’t agree with their description right away). It didn’t create peer-to-peer hierarchy, competition, or negative comparison, just pure curiosity. No one felt embarrassed or singled out. No one refused to share their result. There was no awkward silence after revealing a fruit, no teasing, no sense of “better” or “worse” fruits, just laughter, nodding, and a lot of “oh, that actually makes sense.” Even the student who disagreed stayed engaged and argued their case playfully, which sparked even more conversation.   While all of this sounds basic (and amazing), these were direct results of our design thinking. During the process, we explored various visual directions: animals, aliens, plants, cocktails (and other beverages), and fruit. In the end, we chose fruit precisely because people from all walks of life, cultures, and countries have a close, positive relationship with it. Plus, fruit is often associated with sensuality and sexuality. Plants and aliens felt too abstract. Animals seemed more likely to provoke negative connotations and hierarchy—especially in relation to sensuality and sexuality. And cocktails just aren’t as culturally universal as fruit. IMAGE 1: An OBOV PowerPoint slide about consent; IMAGE 2: A CUE PowerPoint slide of “What Fruit Are You Today?” and a QR code Beyond easing our worries, this trial run gave us real validation. These students weren’t just being polite; they were genuinely into it. And here’s

IN FOCUS The CUE Dispatch Evidence, Echoes, Effects Sexual Consent Is Not as Simple as Some Might Think: A Qualitative Study of Dutch Post-Secondary Students’ Experiences — April 14th, 2026 Editor: Federica Esposito Sexual consent is often intended as straightforward and dichotomous, legally and ethically, a clear “yes” or “no” , a boundary that should be easy to communicate, understand, and respect. Yet, reality can be more nuanced and complicated than that. As discussed by Beres (Beres, 2014), dominant models of consent increasingly emphasize explicit and verbal agreement, often framing consent as something that should be clearly articulated. The idea of “affirmative consent” (Anyadike-Danes et al. 2023), and the consequent expectation that consent should be explicit, verbal, and enthusiastic has therefore become increasingly prominent. While this model plays an important role in promoting safer interactions, it does not fully reflect how people actually experience consent in their everyday lives.   One of the reasons consent is so difficult to navigate is that it is not a single, clearly defined concept. Research identifies multiple ways of understanding consent, including affirmative consent (explicit verbal agreement), behavioral consent (based on actions), and internal willingness (how a person actually feels) (Anyadike-Danes et al. 2023). It is important to note that these dimensions do not always align. A person may outwardly agree while internally feeling unsure, pressured, or unwilling. This highlights how consent is inherently multidimensional and cannot be reduced to a simple yes/no binary (Anyadike-Danes et al. 2023). Earlier work has also emphasized that consent should not be understood as a one-time event, but as an ongoing process, shaped by context and interaction (Alderson and Goodey, 1998).   As part of my internship, I conducted a small qualitative research project exploring how university students in the Netherlands interpret and communicate consent in their everyday dating experiences. The study was based on five semi-structured interviews with participants aged between 22 and 29. Most were Dutch students enrolled in Master’s programs, with one international student and one undergraduate participant. All participants are studying in the Netherlands. Many identified as queer, and all participants were relatively open and comfortable discussing intimacy and personal experiences.   In addition to exploring how consent is communicated and perceived, the research also examined participants’ experiences with sexuality education, whether they felt prepared to navigate intimate relationships with the knowledge they received during school, and what role universities should play in preventing sexual misconduct.   Following feminist research approaches such as those described by Hesse-Biber (Hesse-Biber, 2006), the interviews focused on lived experience and subjective meaning, rather than treating consent as a fixed or purely measurable concept. In particular, the research aimed to explore aspects of participants’ lived experiences that often remain unspoken or under-articulated. In line with this perspective, reflexivity was incorporated into the research process through an awareness of positionality, the power dynamics inherent in the interview setting, and the ways in which the researcher’s presence, assumptions, and framing of questions may have shaped participants’ responses. Rather than aiming for complete objectivity, the research understands knowledge as co-constructed and situated within the interaction between researcher and participant (Hesse-Biber 2006). At the same time, scholars such as Pillow (Pillow, 2003) have critically questioned the role of reflexivity in qualitative research, arguing that it should not be seen as a straightforward solution to issues of bias or power. This highlights the broader methodological debate surrounding reflexivity and its limitations.   One of the most striking findings was that experiences of sexual misconduct were not isolated within the sample. Among the five participants, three women and one LGBTQ+ participant reported direct experiences of sexual misconduct, while another participant shared that their partner had gone through a similar experience. While this is a small and non-representative sample, the recurrence of these experiences within the interviews is noteworthy. Rather than indicating prevalence, it highlights how situations in which consent is not fully respected can be part of individuals’ lived realities.   This also reflects what Walker (Walker, 1997) has argued: consent can sometimes function as a strategy to navigate uncomfortable or difficult situations, rather than a fully free and autonomous choice. In such cases, saying “yes” may be about avoiding conflict, managing expectations, or responding to social pressure rather than expressing a genuine desire. This challenges simplified understandings of consent and highlights the importance of looking beyond verbal agreement alone. Walker (Walker, 1997) therefore addresses a phenomenon that is analytically distinct from sexual assault or rape: consent to unwanted sex. This concept refers to situations in which sexual activity is not genuinely desired by one partner, yet still occurs for reasons such as the desire to please the other person or due to external circumstances that make refusal feel difficult or not possible. Rather than reflecting a lack of ability to say no, these situations often emerge from relational and contextual dynamics in which individuals perceive that refusing is not a viable option: for example, when a partner is already highly aroused or when stopping the interaction feels socially or emotionally constrained. As a consequence, consent may also be interpreted through a gendered lens. As argued by Walker (Walker, 1997), women in particular may consent to unwanted sexual activity due to social pressure, fear of conflict, or internalized expectations to accommodate others. This suggests that consent cannot be understood as a purely individual and neutral act, but must be situated within gendered power relations that shape how comfortable individuals feel expressing or enforcing their boundaries. This also highlights how the ability to give or refuse consent is unevenly distributed, depending on one’s social position and identity.    It is also interesting to note how, for all participants, these experiences became turning points — moments that reshaped how they understood consent and how they communicated it in future interactions.  Another key finding was that none of the participants felt they had received sufficient sexuality education to navigate their intimate lives. Sexuality education in Dutch secondary schools was described as primarily focused on biology and reproduction,

Intern Diary – Animating the Consent Lab: Updates and Reflections on the Storyboarding Process — Apil 15th, 2026 Intern: Camilla di Nardo In the last ten weeks, I’ve been working on the storyboards for the Consent Lab, CUE’s laboratory on intimacy, communication and consent. During this 6-hour learning experience, divided into shorter animated videos, students will have the opportunity to discover more about themselves and how to be safe and aware in their sexual life.    I was very enthusiastic to be invited to visualise the previously developed scripts and develop the storyboard. This task was an opportunity for me to use my creativity and passion for writing to develop an impactful project. Ten weeks later, I’ve gained new insights and skills on inclusive narratives.      My main task was to develop the animated components for the course, specifying how I wanted them to appear and move in the scene, so that my storyboards could later be developed into actual videos. I soon realised that it wasn’t just a matter of deciding how an image appeared on the screen: I had to reflect on what meanings I wanted to convey.  IMAGE: A PowerPoint page of Camila’s report presentation near the end of her internship There were some visual rules that I had to keep in mind, mainly concerning distancing, size, colour, and many other aspects. I learned that the number of images in a scene, the blank spaces between them, the difference in size, their shades, and how they enter, exit and move are all as important as what the actual image represents. Following some visual learning rules, I understood that people can be engaged through patterns, conceptual relationships and underlying meanings of visual components (Alabi 2024).   Moreover, I was invited to pay attention to how much text I would use in the video. Inserting written content in a scene is a good way to identify what is important to remember, but at the same time, overloading learners with text can be tricky and obtain the opposite effect.    Inevitably, every stylistic choice I made had both perks and disadvantages. The task required a lot of self-reflection, doubting and critical thinking. The fact that I was dealing with animated components made this process easier, as I felt like animation allowed me to have the right amount of creative freedom and space to implement all these reflections. IMAGE: A PowerPoint page of Camila’s report presentation near the end of her internship The main advantage of animation was the possibility of using abstraction. The Consent Lab centers around topics that may be sensitive or even triggering for some: we are dealing with taboos, conversations that are often deemed “embarrassing”, and, in certain cases, dangerous and painful scenarios. Using metaphors and abstractions to represent such topics can be a way to create a safe distance between learners and the content, while maintaining a degree of connection that enables people to still engage with the material.  IMAGE: A PowerPoint page of Camila’s report presentation near the end of her internship To have a clearer idea of how this process of abstraction works, here’s an example of a challenge that I encountered. In one storyboard, I had to visualise a scene in which one of the characters freezes during a sexual assault. Of course, the Consent Lab doesn’t depict violence, but still refers to it, as prevention is one of its main goals. I didn’t want to overlook the scene, as I felt it was very important to have it, but at the same time, I felt like I needed to be careful in representing it.    What I did was reflect on a strong metaphor that could encompass the meaning of the scene. I decided to have the main character look at the scene from outside, as they were watching a movie. When the freezing happened, the screen froze too, like there wasn’t any signal anymore. I made this choice thinking about what could happen when your body freezes, not being able to be in charge of it anymore.    It was in this challenging moment, which required a lot of thought, work and retouching, that I really reflected on the aim of a project like the Consent Lab. To me, it all came back to creating something that could resonate with people coming from many different backgrounds and empower them. IMAGE: A PowerPoint page of Camila’s report presentation near the end of her internship This task resulted in a never-ending reflection on inclusive storytelling. It was obviously demanding, but also very rewarding, like a complicated puzzle that needs a certain amount of commitment to be solved. The freezing scene is a clear example of how much behind-the-scenes work inclusivity requires.    What I also wanted to avoid was perceiving sensitivity and diversity as homework that I was forced to complete. My main goal was to go beyond the standard idea of inclusivity, which risks representing marginalized people as caricatures, whose only characteristic is their oppression: I wanted LGBTQ+ couples that were not solely challenging social norms, but also walking hand by hand; disabled individuals that were not only struggling, but also studying, seeing friends, or dating; plus sized people that were not either facing or standing out against bullism, but also have a life beyond that. Shedding light on oppression is important, but representing diverse characters with many layers of values, qualities and faults is equally fundamental.    What I’ve learned from this task is that storytelling is a job that requires a lot of patience and awareness: I had to be very conscious of my positionality and the possible biases that I could have. The key for me was avoiding feeling ashamed by my limits and working to gain as many perspectives as possible. The most rewarding moments of these ten weeks working on the Consent Lab were those in which I exchanged ideas, visions and opinions with the people around me.    References    https://www.researchgate.net/publication/385662029_Visual_Learning_The_Power_of_Visual_Aids_and_Multimedia IMAGE: A PowerPoint

TRACKING THE PULSE The CUE Newsroom Stories, Sparks, Snapshots — From Our World to Yours. NEWS – Hosting a CUE Booth at Utrecht University Library –2026.04.15 On April 15th, 2026, our team set up the interactive booth in the library today. We were there to share CUE’s work – especially our life transition series “Transition into College Dating Life.” That means programs, digital tools, gamification designs, and everything in between. Students could sign up for the CUE newsletter, ask about our digital design work, talk gamification, register for our May workshops, or even sign up for internships and volunteering. Basically, a one-stop spot to get involved. We also prepared a hands-on activity was letting people try our newly launched digital tool: “What Fruit Are You Today?” – a quiz designed to help people reflect on their communication and consent patterns in dating or casual encounters at parties. We brought flyers, laptops, and a lot of curiosity about how people would respond. Around 10–15 people took the test. Lots of others walked by, stared at the poster, read the flyers, hesitated… then kept walking. When we said “hi,” some just walked away. But the ones who did stop? They had great conversations with us. The positives: The fruit visuals were a real hit – people genuinely smiled when they saw their result. Several students asked about our May workshops. One girl from University College was so excited about our consent workshops that she asked for our contact details to collaborate on a podcast. The high school group (around age 16) had just done a consent project and told us our quiz was “actually pretty cool” – high praise from teenagers. Even the library staff member who tried it on the go gave us a thumbs up.   What we learned: Most participants were satisfied with their results. Some said the fruit fit them well. Others noted it fit them in general but not necessarily in a specific moment or situation, which we actually loved, because it suggests the tool feels fluid rather than fixed. Consent and communication aren’t static, after all.  Most participants were young women, Dutch speakers (some nuance lost in translation).  Midway through, we added a bowl of chocolates and a separate sheet of paper that simply said: “Come talk to us about social safety in university.” The shift from “dating/consent” to the broader term “social safety” made a noticeable difference. More people felt welcome to approach. Our team realised that sometimes vagueness – paired with chocolate – can lower the conversation barrier.   Feedback to improve: The scrolling confused people. They didn’t realise they had to scroll down for the full fruit description. We’ll add a clear prompt. The questions felt a bit heavy for a quick library stop. Next time, simplify for “on the go.” People wanted to compare fruits with friends – maybe an overview page for the next version?   All in all, a solid day. Good conversations, new sign-ups, and a lot of curiosity. The chocolates are almost gone. That’s a win.