Afbeelding
The school year is different in Jade’s home country Zimbabwe to the Netherlands, so a February start was a practical solution to not having to wait too long. “I finished high school at the end of 2020, and I’d kind of been sitting at home for just 2 months or so but I wanted to get out. I’d actually been looking all year for universities and international applications were closed, but I thought, why don’t I just try. Because I had an EU passport I was able to see if I can get in with the late applications – and I did. And it was such a rush. I only got my acceptance letter about a month before I came here.”
Choosing a direction
“I’d heard from friends about studying in the Netherlands and particularly in Groningen, but hadn’t actually heard about NHL Stenden. I found it through trial and error online. I knew nothing about it from anybody, I just found it and decided this was the one. But I still had no clue what I wanted to study. I’d done sciences at school but I wanted to do something I really enjoyed, something creative. I was kind of just browsing through the courses and I came across creative business. I liked the word creative and hated the word business, but reading the course description I thought it could maybe work for me after all. Now, I don’t think the word business is so bad. I like that it’s so creative and the technical aspects are fine. I’ve got a few ideas of what I want to do with and it is kind of broad. I like that there are so many options after you leave, so hopefully it will take me somewhere. I mean, who knows really, after 4 years, if you’re still going to like what you’re doing.”
Study at NHL Stenden webinar
“I joined the Study at webinar. More once I’d chosen the course. I’d pretty much made up my mind by then but it was useful to do. And it also helped my parents. When it came to the financial thing, I was sitting there taking notes and just suggested they come and watch with me so that they could ask their questions. They were thinking of questions I wouldn’t have thought of, and they all got answered, which was useful. I think the financial stuff was the most important, for me and my family anyway. And not just about the tuition fees, but how much rent I would be paying, and what living expenses I could expect. It was actually then that I found out I could pay EU tuition fees because of my Irish passport. That really made a difference.
The other thing I got from the Spotlight on.. webinar was reassurance. Although my mind was pretty made up, everything was so rushed I was scared I was making the wrong decision. It was good to hear them talk about what we’d be doing in the first year, the second year, and understanding the process of coming here, going abroad, doing an internship, all that kind of stuff. I know the information is also on the website, but it’s not the same as hearing it from someone else and the webinar just gives you that much more detail.
Making it real
You know, it’s kind of daunting going to a different place, especially when it’s a completely different culture, so I was loving the fact that I could actually hear about people’s experiences as that makes it less scary. I prefer human interaction and it makes the information more real and, for me, helps me to remember it. The great thing with the Study at webinar is that if you had a question, you could ask it and get an answer right back. It’s a conversation. And it’s definitely reassuring.
