Ida from Denmark

There are several ways to educate oneself. Being an exchange student is a way of combining two educations: the academic and the personal. This is my experience from a semester in Rotterdam, which without any doubt has been the best time of my life. I came to Rotterdam wanting “more” in my life – to be challenged in my studies and to widen my horizon for alternative master educations.

Furthermore, I was longing to experience a new city, a new language, new people, a new culture, and last but certainly not least I really wanted to learn more about myself, push my boundaries and experience being exactly the person I am.

I moved to Rotterdam in January 2014 and was immediately welcomed by the student organization Erasmus Student Network (ESN). Through this organization I was introduced to Rotterdam, the Dutch culture and other international students, which made my first weeks away from home extremely interesting, fun, and easy. ESN has departments all over Europe and so, I will strongly recommend any exchange student to contact the organization when abroad, as it is a great way to start your international experience. Personally, I wanted to engage in as many networks and social activities as possible in order to get in contact with both Dutch and international students, so therefore I also signed up for student housing on campus at Erasmus University. Here I shared a student flat with two girls from Slovenia and Turkey, and it was great to live in a household with different personalities and cultural backgrounds. Furthermore, the atmosphere in the building was exiting and vivid and people from the different floors and units were always interacting. All the people I got to know through ESN and the student housing brought me into new circles of friends and thus expanded my network and I am so grateful to have made so many wonderful friends.

Once I got a bike, which is essential in the Netherlands, I endeavoured in experiencing more of the city on my own and I realized that it was not as big as I first thought. Quickly, I got to know my way around and I began to notice the connections between the districts, the shortcuts, and the charm of the city. It is like no other Dutch city, or European city for that matter – mostly because of its experimental architecture. Through a history course at the university I got to know more about Rotterdam and its history, which made me experience the city differently and appreciate its courageous and at times bizarre appearance. I am very happy to have been an exchange student in a country like the Netherlands because it is so filled with history and diversity and the people are extremely outgoing, friendly and helpful. A thing that I will definitely miss about the Netherlands is the Dutch pride – never have I met a people so proud of their country, its origins and its culture. I got to experience this first hand at King’s Day, which I celebrated in Amsterdam, covered in orange, first with all of my international friends and later at night with some of my Dutch friends. King’s day stands as the ultimate Dutch experience to me and I hope to be back in the Netherlands for yet another King’s Day celebration in the future.

I will do my best to keep inspiring and motivating people to travel and live abroad because I would like others to experience how rewarding and enriching this experience is. Personally, I have grown into a more mature, outgoing, responsible, and positive person and therefore I will strongly advice anyone to look for the opportunity of going abroad – whether it is to study or to travel.

I am honoured and grateful for receiving the ATP-foundation scholarship. This financial contribution to my exchange has made it possible for me to engage fully in both academic and social activities, as I did not have to worry about working while living in Rotterdam. Thank you again to the Annegien Tegelaar-Prins Foundation.

In order to motivate and inspire other people to go abroad and hopefully have as amazing experiences as I had, I have chosen to write two testimonials (excluding the testimonial for your website) and an extensive article for my secondary school’s magazine Lindebladet.

The first testimonial I wrote was for Erasmus Universiteit and was primarily about why I choose this specific university for my exchange and how I liked living and studying there. The second was for my exchange program History and Culture Studies for the faculty Erasmus School of History, Culture, and Communication. It is aimed towards the partner universities in order to promote the program and reach the History and Cultural Studies students there since these students rarely take the opportunity to study abroad. Therefore the testimonial is mainly about my experiences with the faculty, the structuring of my classes and of the semester, living on campus, and meeting friends through student housing as well as through lectures.

Lastly, the article I wrote for my primary and secondary school was about my thoughts, choices and experiences about being on exchange in Rotterdam. I chose to write this article because I wanted to reach and influence people at an early age and introduce them to the opportunities of travelling abroad early since they have a sea of options already. I believe this way of inspiring and motivating others is more beneficial than e.g. doing a presentation at my former school. The magazine is read by the students who are between 6-16 year, by their parents, and by the teachers. Therefore, I chose to address the students in this magazine as it also allows me to reach a broad range of people influencing young peoples’ choice to go abroad. I believe it is important to reach the students at an early age because they have more opportunities of traveling abroad than they think – between secondary school and high school, high school and university, or while studying at a university. By reaching the teachers and parents as well, hopefully I can inspire them to pass the opportunities of traveling abroad forward to their children and students and moreover remind them of the option when the kids are older. The article mainly describes what university exchange is, how and why I decided on going abroad to Rotterdam, and how my everyday life was with such a broad variety of nationalities. Last but not least I have emphasized the importance of challenging oneself both academically, socially, and personally by telling about how I got to know myself much better right there in the middle of a dynamic culture, city, and community.

In order to motivate and inspire other people to go abroad and hopefully have as amazing experiences as I had, I have chosen to write two testimonials (excluding the testimonial for your website) and an extensive article for my secondary school’s magazine Lindebladet.

The first testimonial I wrote was for Erasmus Universiteit and was primarily about why I choose this specific university for my exchange and how I liked living and studying there. The second was for my exchange program History and Culture Studies for the faculty Erasmus School of History, Culture, and Communication. It is aimed towards the partner universities in order to promote the program and reach the History and Cultural Studies students there since these students rarely take the opportunity to study abroad. Therefore the testimonial is mainly about my experiences with the faculty, the structuring of my classes and of the semester, living on campus, and meeting friends through student housing as well as through lectures.

Lastly, the article I wrote for my primary and secondary school was about my thoughts, choices and experiences about being on exchange in Rotterdam. I chose to write this article because I wanted to reach and influence people at an early age and introduce them to the opportunities of traveling abroad early since they have a sea of options already. I believe this way of inspiring and motivating others is more beneficial than e.g. doing a presentation at my former school. The magazine is read by the students who are between 6-16 year, by their parents, and by the teachers. Therefore, I chose to address the students in this magazine as it also allows me to reach a broad range of people influencing young peoples’ choice to go abroad. I believe it is important to reach the students at an early age because they have more opportunities of traveling abroad than they think – between secondary school and high school, high school and university, or while studying at a university. By reaching the teachers and parents as well, hopefully I can inspire them to pass the opportunities of traveling abroad forward to their children and students and moreover remind them of the option when the kids are older. The article mainly describes what university exchange is, how and why I decided on going abroad to Rotterdam, and how my everyday life was with such a broad variety of nationalities. Last but not least I have emphasized the importance of challenging oneself both academically, socially, and personally by telling about how I got to know myself much better right there in the middle of a dynamic culture, city, and community.

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