Nela Čupić

Nela Cupic, Business Administration student
“I believe you can get a lot out of anything if you put in the effort.”
Nela Čupić
Business Administration student

“I found out about NHL Stenden at a school fair. There were a few Dutch universities of applied sciences there, but when I talked to the representative and saw the NHL Stenden banner with a long list of the business programmes it offered, I decided it was the place for me. I knew I wanted to do a business degree, and I’d always said at secondary school that I was going to study abroad so the whole thing felt very natural. My intuition simply said yes. It was the right choice although there is a ‘but’: I’m from Croatia and I think the pace of study is faster there and I'm used to making a lot of demands on myself. Here, it feels as if they’re letting us get used to things more gently. It means however that I’ve got more time outside my studies to do other things. Like getting involved with the student council and joining the Centre for Entrepreneurship. They're both offering experiences I know will help me in the future.”

My mind, my opinions

“I’m in my first year and I can already say that the thing that stands out for me about my time here is being able to make so many international friends. This is the right place and the right time for me because I’m getting to meet so many great people that are so different to me – and yet we share a particular mindset. I’m also becoming more confident with forming my opinions and can express them more honestly. I feel more that my opinions are truly mine, formed by me doing my own research, as well as by listening to other people and questioning their opinions. I think it can be very easy to simply believe what other people tell you and accept it as generally true, but sometimes, if you look into a situation yourself, you come up with a different conclusion.”

 

Want it done? Do it yourself

“One thing I really want to do is get a job. Which means I've had to pluck up the courage to go to restaurants and hand over my CV. It’s a big thing for people of my generation to actually walk into a place and ask for a job, so I thought at first that it would be good to go along with a friend, but actually, going on my own was much better. It felt uncomfortable at first, but I got used to it, figured out what I wanted to say and got over the embarrassment. I think I went to about 6 different restaurants and by the end of the day, I felt as if I could go anywhere and talk to anyone. It felt really good; as if I'd overcome a huge mental block. It was also a good lesson in understanding that if I really want to get something done, I can simply do it myself and don’t have to wait for others.”

“This kind of clashes with the way of studying here, where you work in teams on assignments. I’ve been really lucky so far that I’ve worked with the same group of people and we all have the same attitude of wanting to do things really well. If a group doesn’t share the same ambition, then you see how much friction that can lead to. I’ve got high expectations and want to get the most out of my studies. I like being pushed to do more and I like being outside of my comfort zone. In a way I’m actually comfortable in new situations. I think it's because I’m a very positive person and I’m always going to do what I can to make things work out right. And I like to keep busy. I really believe that you can get a lot out of anything, if you put in the effort.” 

Find out more about the Business Administration degree on the programme’s website. 

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