Why did you choose this program?
I have always wanted to go abroad during my bachelor's, it was part of the reason why I chose this degree in the Netherlands. When the time finally arrived to choose where to go I knew I wanted to go as far away as possible for the ultimate experience.
Mrs. Roskvist from AUT came to my University by that time to give a presentation and excited me to spend my exchange in the beautiful New Zealand following very interesting papers.
What did your program provider assist you with, and what did you have to organize on your own?
AUT is a partner of my University, Radboud University, which made things a little easier. My coordinator at home made sure I got offered a place at AUT. As I was the first student of this partnership to go study at AUT, I had to organize quite a lot myself, such as finding out where to live and what papers to take.
What is one piece of advice you'd give to someone going on your program?
Start early with all of the preparations! There is a lot to prepare, as I was going on an exchange outside of Europe. Plane tickets should be booked well in advance for an attractive price and a good insurance has to be purchased.
I also had to think about what I wanted to do after the semester: traveling? And if so, where to? And what should I do with all of my stuff? So: start early!
Get out there. This is an experience of a lifetime and quite often you have to jump into activities/things that at first may scare you..
I went rafting, and lived with a Maori family for a long weekend. Even if these experiences might seen scary, you will never regret doing these things, so have no doubts and go!
What does an average day/week look like as a participant of this program?
I followed four papers at AUT, so I usually had class every day except for Friday's. I would go to University quite early to have coffee with one of my Dutch friends. After that I would have 1 or 2 classes a day with only locals, Kiwi's, which was great.
After that I usually went to the city centre with my friends or home if I had homework to do. I lived in a big apartment complex with mostly internationals, which meant heaps of movie nights and parties, so I practically had something to do every night. On the weekend's I would often go on some kind of trip in NZ, such as visiting the north (Cape Reinga) or some other city nearby.
Going into your experience abroad, what was your biggest fear, and how did you overcome it and/or how did your views on the issue change?
I went to NZ completely alone, without any of my fellow students. This was a big plus for me, as I wanted to go alone, but it also scared me. I was afraid that I wouldn't meet as many people as I would expect and that I would end up 'alone'.
The opposite happened! I met so many people. Friends would say to me that I would meet a lot of people, but I had to experience it before believing it. I was never alone and I almost had too many activities to participate in instead of not enough. So my advice would be: be openminded and internationals as well as locals will approach you. This is the time to make friendships forever.
What experience taught you a valuable life lesson?
One of the papers I followed at AUT was International Competence in a Global World. For the second half of the semester we were partnered up with somebody from the class. I was teamed up with a girl from India who had lived in New Zealand for eight years.
The point of the class was to find out about each other's cultural differences and to reflect on their and our own behavior in different situations (e.g. visiting a cafe/ going to a meditation centre). At first, she was a bit intimidated by me, because of my communication style. Personally, I thought she was a bit dull, as she was very quiet. We did not get along very well but we had to finish the assignments together.
After reflecting on each other and reading each other's blogs, we got real insight in each other's behavior. It was a real eye-opener for me. I learned to adapt my communication style and behavior to the person I am communicating with. At the end of the project we even became good friends! In my field of work, this lesson was very valuable.