Doing Business in Europe Summer Program in the Netherlands – My name is Diora Asatkhojaeva, I am a recent graduate from Nova Scotia Community College – Business Administration-Management program. In late autumn 2014, I was interviewed for my position at NSCC here by my current manager at Hanze. I heard back from him in such a short period of time – I received an e-mail indicating that I got the internships position at Hanze Summer School in the Netherlands, Groningen. I have been doing my internship here in Groningen, at Hanze University of Applied Sciences since April 1, 2015. My position here is to help organizing summer schools, which includes budgeting, arranging social programs, assisting summer school students during their stay and so on.

Since the beginning, I have been enjoying my experience at Hanze. It is my first professional experience overseas after graduating from NSCC. Of course, at the beginning I had challenges such as adapting to the city, getting used to the workload in a short period of time and meeting deadlines. I should also mention the fact that I was not a good biker before I came here, so this could also be counted as one of the challenges.  However, it did not take me too long to adapt and get used to this amazing city. I really did enjoy exploring a brand new world with new culture, different people, and places. I was lucky to be provided with the accommodation-dormitory where I met people that became my life-long friends from all around the world. I have also met so many new people through the summer schools we organized. The best part of my position here at Hanze was to see the outcome, seeing how all the hard work was worth it in the end and reading great comments from the students.

As my internship at Hanze comes to an end, I can easily say that this was a life-changing experience for me. I have learned a lot during my stay in the Netherlands. I am excited to use the experience I gained from here in my next adventures and very sad to leave at the same time. I am thankful to be granted with such opportunity. I will definitely come back to this country again.

Diora Asatkhojaeva

Business Administration Graduate

NSCC Watefront Campus