Hi everyone,
I've to say, it's a lot harder than I expected to update the blog. I'm very busy with school and all the other activities I have to do for the program.
I've two more weeks of classes to go... The went passed by so fast! The classes that I follow at the moment are; Practicals, German, Foundations of Marketing, INGO's, Orals Presentations and Spanish.
'Orals Presentations' is about improving your presenting skills. How to give a presentation in front of a audience. You will learn how to give a presentation for a company, a speech and much more. This is one of my favorite classes, because I like to give presentations and I've learned a lot about what I can improve. This course will actually be helpful for the rest of the program, and even for the future. I will explain why. The teacher will give you a honest opinion about you can improve about your presenting skills. She told me that I need to pay a more attention to pronouncing the words right and to make sure that I make it a little more interactive by moving around the room. While presenting, I was standing at one place and by moving to the left and right, you make it a little more interesting and you make sure that you keep the people's attention.
'INGO's' is a course about INGO's. I'm going to be very honest with you and I don't like this course at all. I don't know if it's about the lecturer or about the topics discussed during the lectures. I also have to say that I only attented a few classes, because I just can't concentrate during the lectures and I've a feeling that I learn much more by reading the book.
'Foundations of Marketing' is still one of my favorite classes. We also got this course in term 3 and now, in term 4, we have 'Marketing Part B. I'm very interested in marketing and I like how the lecturer gives his lectures. He makes it very interesting by giving good and interesting examples. 'Practicals' is combined with this course, because we need to use the same book for the course. We can also use the marketing sheets for extra information for our 'Practicals' report.
'Spanish'; this is the course that I was very excited about when I heard that I was allowed to follow the course. I've always wanted to learn how to speak Spanish and this is a great opportunity to learn a new language.
In two weeks, we will have our final exam week. This exam week will decide whether we get our first-year diploma or not, so I'm very nervous about this one...
I'll keep you updated!
maandag 21 mei 2012
zondag 11 maart 2012
Term 2, Semester 1
Unfortunately, before a new term starts, there is a examweek... This is your moment to shine and prove (to yourself) that you worked and studied hard. We had an exam voor Economic Dimension of Europe, Dutch, German, Project Management and one more. There were exams for the other courses at the end of Semester 1. I passed all the exams. It just a matter of reading, going to the lectures and ofcourse studying.
There was an exam for most of the courses, except for Research Skills. Most of them were MC questions, so it was just a matter of reading and making your homework. I failed one exam; 'Economic Dimension of Europe'. Economics is not my thing and I wasn't suprised I failed this one, but luckily I had an opportunity to re-sit the exam in term 2.
This term was all about projects. One of them was to organise an event for two other classes and judges. I will write a post about this later on. We also had to make a casestudy for 'Economic Dimension' where you had to a lot of research to find on in which country frozen fish would be succesful. Sounds like something really boring to do, but it was actually fun. I was in a group with two friends, so that made it a little worse. I do have to admit that working with friends can be stressful sometimes. Some people don't work as hard as you use to, but that's someting you just have to deal with. When you are working with friends, it's a little harder to say that somethings aren't going like we decided in the beginnen. But that's just my opinion.
For an another course, we also had to do a lot of research. We had to come up with a topic and find out why it was a problem.. Something like that, I have to admit that I forgot what we had to do, because I'm so glad it's over. One of the problems of this course was our teacher. Out of the 12 classes, we only had real classes for 8 times.. The other times, she just wasn't there... In my class only 4 groups handed in their research, including me, while the other people weren't feeling like doing the research. Some of them were also very confused about what to do, because our teacher wasn't there. Luckily some other teachers were helpful enough, to answer our questions. Many students failed this course, but I passed it with a 6.5! The highest grade in my classs!:D You could fail this course very easily, because there were so many things you had to do.
I also have to admit, that I don't remember a lot of this term, because it's been a while.. I promise to keep you updated about what's going on right now:)
There was an exam for most of the courses, except for Research Skills. Most of them were MC questions, so it was just a matter of reading and making your homework. I failed one exam; 'Economic Dimension of Europe'. Economics is not my thing and I wasn't suprised I failed this one, but luckily I had an opportunity to re-sit the exam in term 2.
This term was all about projects. One of them was to organise an event for two other classes and judges. I will write a post about this later on. We also had to make a casestudy for 'Economic Dimension' where you had to a lot of research to find on in which country frozen fish would be succesful. Sounds like something really boring to do, but it was actually fun. I was in a group with two friends, so that made it a little worse. I do have to admit that working with friends can be stressful sometimes. Some people don't work as hard as you use to, but that's someting you just have to deal with. When you are working with friends, it's a little harder to say that somethings aren't going like we decided in the beginnen. But that's just my opinion.
For an another course, we also had to do a lot of research. We had to come up with a topic and find out why it was a problem.. Something like that, I have to admit that I forgot what we had to do, because I'm so glad it's over. One of the problems of this course was our teacher. Out of the 12 classes, we only had real classes for 8 times.. The other times, she just wasn't there... In my class only 4 groups handed in their research, including me, while the other people weren't feeling like doing the research. Some of them were also very confused about what to do, because our teacher wasn't there. Luckily some other teachers were helpful enough, to answer our questions. Many students failed this course, but I passed it with a 6.5! The highest grade in my classs!:D You could fail this course very easily, because there were so many things you had to do.
I also have to admit, that I don't remember a lot of this term, because it's been a while.. I promise to keep you updated about what's going on right now:)
zondag 19 februari 2012
Semester 1, term 1
It has been a long time ago since I entered the Hague University for the first time. It's already 7 months ago and I'm in week 3 of semester 2.. So, let's go back in time!
It all started with an introductionweek organized by European Studies. It was a chance to get to know all your classmates, some teachers, the environment and of course, more about the programme. When I walked into the school, I was surprised by the fact how big it was. The first thing I thought, how am I going to find all the rooms etc.? But everything was explained during the introductionweek. It's really easy, trust me.
We all had to go one big room and the classes were announced. There was a girl from my high school who is also studying European Studies, but unfortunately she wasn't in my class. When every single class was announed, we went to a classroom where we were meeting our supervisor. There was a little information session about how Blackboard works(An online system where you can enroll for courses, find study manuals etc.) and how to find our schedule. We also did a little game where everyone introduced themselves. There was a tour around the school later on today.
I don't really remember everything that happened during the introductionweek, but I can tell that it was fun. We also had a tour around the city and there was a nice party at Club Le Paris. I was really surprised about the fact that everyone was so nice to eachother. The second year student and the teachers were also nice and willing to help us.
The day after the party we had een 'Anti-Hangover Brunch' which was a good way to catch up on what happened the day before, and to confront other people with their drunk behavior(I'm just kidding!) Afterwards, there was an other information session.
From that moment, everything started. Everyone bought the last couple of books, checked their timetable etc.
The first week of school was really fun. Every teacher introduced their course clear and told us what to expect, what kind of exams we were getting, what the rules are and probably some more things I can't remember. At the beginning I wondered how I was going to find the classrooms, but don't worry about that, there is a really clear system on how to find the rooms. I will give you a short summary about some of the courses.
Culture Dimension; This is a course where you will go back in time and learn more about the culture theories philosophers. You will also learn more about different cultural backrounds and how to understand people from an other culture. For this course you had an MC exam and a presentation about a given topic with a fellow-student.
Economic Dimension; This was my favorite course. In this course you will learn all the ins and outs of a business. You will learn about what kind of companies there are, how to manage a company and basically everything you need to know about business/entrepreneurship. During the 'Open Day's', I got many questions about if you have to calculate things, but don't worry, this course is more about the theoretical side.
German; This course depends on which language you had before(it can also be French, Spain, but I had German on high school. You have two different classes each week, one of them is 'Practical German' where you have to give a presentation every single week with a sub-group. The other class is about reading, grammar and about the country.
Research Skills; this course was about you research skills. How can you find sources that are trustworthy for your research, papers or presentations. You will also learn how to interview and how to make a decent APA-style report.
There are some more cources, but I just randomly picked some courses you tell you more about.
It's very important to go to all the lectures. It can be very hard to motivate yourself, but if you go to every lecture, you will send it in your (exam) results. It's also important to keep up with the reading. There is a manual for every course, where you can find the homework and the reading for next week. Overall, I like this term and I've learned a lot. The way of teaching etc. is obviously different than you are used to in high school. Teacher expect that you can work on your own and motivate yourself. You will also improve your skills on working together with other students. It is sometimes so frustrating, because not every student was as motivated as I was. Sometimes they wanted to start working on something at the last moment or willing to work hard on something at all. Those things will happen everywhere, so it just something you will have to deal with.
It all started with an introductionweek organized by European Studies. It was a chance to get to know all your classmates, some teachers, the environment and of course, more about the programme. When I walked into the school, I was surprised by the fact how big it was. The first thing I thought, how am I going to find all the rooms etc.? But everything was explained during the introductionweek. It's really easy, trust me.
We all had to go one big room and the classes were announced. There was a girl from my high school who is also studying European Studies, but unfortunately she wasn't in my class. When every single class was announed, we went to a classroom where we were meeting our supervisor. There was a little information session about how Blackboard works(An online system where you can enroll for courses, find study manuals etc.) and how to find our schedule. We also did a little game where everyone introduced themselves. There was a tour around the school later on today.
I don't really remember everything that happened during the introductionweek, but I can tell that it was fun. We also had a tour around the city and there was a nice party at Club Le Paris. I was really surprised about the fact that everyone was so nice to eachother. The second year student and the teachers were also nice and willing to help us.
The day after the party we had een 'Anti-Hangover Brunch' which was a good way to catch up on what happened the day before, and to confront other people with their drunk behavior(I'm just kidding!) Afterwards, there was an other information session.
From that moment, everything started. Everyone bought the last couple of books, checked their timetable etc.
The first week of school was really fun. Every teacher introduced their course clear and told us what to expect, what kind of exams we were getting, what the rules are and probably some more things I can't remember. At the beginning I wondered how I was going to find the classrooms, but don't worry about that, there is a really clear system on how to find the rooms. I will give you a short summary about some of the courses.
Culture Dimension; This is a course where you will go back in time and learn more about the culture theories philosophers. You will also learn more about different cultural backrounds and how to understand people from an other culture. For this course you had an MC exam and a presentation about a given topic with a fellow-student.
Economic Dimension; This was my favorite course. In this course you will learn all the ins and outs of a business. You will learn about what kind of companies there are, how to manage a company and basically everything you need to know about business/entrepreneurship. During the 'Open Day's', I got many questions about if you have to calculate things, but don't worry, this course is more about the theoretical side.
German; This course depends on which language you had before(it can also be French, Spain, but I had German on high school. You have two different classes each week, one of them is 'Practical German' where you have to give a presentation every single week with a sub-group. The other class is about reading, grammar and about the country.
Research Skills; this course was about you research skills. How can you find sources that are trustworthy for your research, papers or presentations. You will also learn how to interview and how to make a decent APA-style report.
There are some more cources, but I just randomly picked some courses you tell you more about.
It's very important to go to all the lectures. It can be very hard to motivate yourself, but if you go to every lecture, you will send it in your (exam) results. It's also important to keep up with the reading. There is a manual for every course, where you can find the homework and the reading for next week. Overall, I like this term and I've learned a lot. The way of teaching etc. is obviously different than you are used to in high school. Teacher expect that you can work on your own and motivate yourself. You will also improve your skills on working together with other students. It is sometimes so frustrating, because not every student was as motivated as I was. Sometimes they wanted to start working on something at the last moment or willing to work hard on something at all. Those things will happen everywhere, so it just something you will have to deal with.
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There are some new blog posts comming up soon!
You can also ask questions if you want to and we will help you out:)
There are some new blog posts comming up soon!
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