We finished up the Plus3: The Netherlands program about two weeks ago, and this trip was an unforgettable experience. Through professional site visits, cultural immersion, and meeting the best people, I can confidently say this trip was one of the best decisions I made this year.
I really enjoyed all of the museums and our day trips to smaller towns. This gave us insight into what traditional Dutch culture looks like, and it was interesting to compare that to the bigger cities, such as Amsterdam and Rotterdam.
This was my second time traveling abroad, and I felt like I grew a lot as a person. I learned how to be more open-minded, to be comfortable with the uncomfortable, and to expect the unexpected. Being in a different country that mostly speaks English is definitely helpful, but adjusting to things such as public transportation takes time. I learned a lot about the history of The Netherlands, mostly in regards to sustainability and flooding, which is something I now have a new interest in.
Academically, I enjoyed how we were able to apply our prior group work to the companies we visited and in a way, teach the rest of the group by leading question-and-answer sessions with the professionals, and inspiring other inquiries through the presentations made during the pre-departure meetings. I also have a new appreciation for the work engineers and business professionals do together to run a successful business. This is something I did not realize until after the site visits.
Professionally, I have come to the conclusion I want to work in a smaller company rather than a big one, whether it is my own start-up or just a small business. I want the freedom to explore new ideas and make my own rules along the way, rather than have so much structure. While I do think I will work in a large corporation at some point, the end goal is definitely my own small business that I hope will grow.
Aside from this development, I also learned a lot of skills. Teamwork was one of the major ones. Throughout the trip, during company visits, we would have smaller team-building competitions, which I can proudly say my team won. This is something I am always trying to work on, especially since I am very independent. During these exercises, we were always challenged to critically think, which can be difficult in group settings during a time crunch. But, these skills are necessary in professional and academic settings. Group work is always a skill I am trying to improve, and the lessons on this trip are something I will take back with me.
Another takeaway from this trip I want to further touch on is that I need to be more open-minded, as I mentioned before. When it comes to cultural experiences, this is not something I struggle with, but rather in professional settings. Some of the companies we visited were more geared to engineers, and going into it I was very disinterested, but by the end, I realized how my business degree overlaps with a lot of the things the speakers were saying. This gave me a new appreciation for business degrees and what I can do with my major. I realized that my degree and career path is not going to be linear, and I should be open to all possibilities, even if I feel it is not for me.
I hope you enjoyed reading along, and enjoy the rest of your summer! Until next time!!
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