A Blog about Education Abroad

Category: BCom International Business

Mia Uys at VU Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Mia Uys

BCom International Business

Semester Exchange in the Second Semester, 2022 at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Pre-departure:

There were many aspects before departure that I now know I should have done better or not have bothered with at all. Firstly, Visa applications were quite a headache for me. Although my host university, Vrije Universiteit, did make the process simpler for me by eliminating the need to make a physical appointment at the Dutch Embassy to submit my documents to the IND, I still felt extremely overwhelmed. There were just so many documents I had to sign and submit that I was unsure off. Thus, I would advise you to do research on which documents they need and the deadlines for the Visa application and to not be afraid to ask others, such as representatives from the Host University, questions.

I would also recommend that on the day you receive your Visa acceptance letter that you make an appointment at the Dutch Embassy closest to you. I had trouble securing an appointment to collect my MVV at the embassy, so to ensure that you receive your visa before you need to travel to your host country, I would put this at the top of my priority list. I would also advise others to utilize student housing if they are planning on doing an exchange in the Netherlands, especially at VU Amsterdam. Student housing is by far the cheapest accommodation you will find in Amsterdam, and you will have the benefit of the housing being relatively close to campus. Additionally, you will be living with other students, so it will be easier to make new friends and build a support network in an unfamiliar country. I would also recommend packing lightly, as you will need less stuff than you think for the next six months abroad. You will also want to bring souvenirs back to your family, friends, and off course, for yourself, thus you will need some extra space in your bags. In terms of winter clothes, I would also recommend buying them while on exchange if you are travelling to Europe, as the clothes are usually better quality and are cheaper than you would find in South Africa.

Experience at the host university:

I found that the university system in the Netherlands, specifically at Vrije Universiteit, differs quite a lot from South African Universities such as Stellenbosch. A semester is divided into three periods, where periods one and two are usually two months each, and period three only one month. You would typically have two modules each period and they would start and end in the specific period that they occur in. This is a big difference from Stellenbosch, where all modules would start at the beginning of the semester and end at the end of the semester. This would effectively mean that modules are completed at a much faster pace. Furthermore, where one would have 50-minute classes at Stellenbosch, one class here is usually two and a half hours long. Consequently, this would mean that there are less classes per week than what you would be used at Stellenbosch. In my personal experience, I did prefer Vrije Universiteit’s way of working, although work had to be understood and completed at a much faster pace than what I was used to, there were never periods that I felt overwhelmed with university work, thus I felt I had a good work-life balance. The big advantage of Stellenbosch is that work is done at a slower pace, so there is usually time to catch up with work if you fall behind, but you will experience at least two big periods during the semester when all modules’ assignments and tests happen at the same time.

Amsterdam

I would recommend choosing one of the Minor programmes the university has to offer, as it has a predetermined timetable, thus you would not have to worry about your chosen modules clashing. Additionally, you can add it to your CV after you have completed it, which would benefit your work prospects. I decided to study a Minor in Risk Management for Financial Institution and I loved every module of it, especially Risk Management for Banking and Financial Institutions. It was extremely interesting for me to learn about how the banking and insurance sectors work in the European Union and what type of risks would be applied to them and what do supervisors, such as the European Central Bank, require in terms of risk management for these firms. What I found interesting about the modules I took is that there were many guest lectures who came to talk to students during lectures and they were not just any ordinary people: most worked for big banks in the Netherlands such as Dutch Central Bank, European Central Bank, Fintech companies like Adyen and various risk management companies. I loved that the university gave students exposure to experts in their field and people who are influential on a Dutch and European level. In terms of assignments and exams, most assignments were centered around group projects, so be prepared to work with many different people during your exchange semester. I did not find that there were big differences in the standards of exam questions between Vrije Universiteit and Stellenbosch University, but I would still recommend continuing to study hard and not underestimate the amount and level of work at your host university.

Return to Stellenbosch:

I would be lying if I said that I did not shed a tear as I landed in South Africa at the end of my exchange. It was wonderful for me to experience the nature and warm weather of South Africa again after being stuck in the cold for so many months. I also loved being able to see my family and friends and enjoy a lekker braai again. Living on the other side of the world for an extended period of time really gave me some perspective on various aspects in South Africa. Firstly, I realized that I appreciate the people of South Africa a lot; South Africans are extremely friendly and helpful to others, even strangers, which is not very common everywhere in the world. I have also realized that South Africa has amazing meat quality and taste, which I would now always remember to appreciate.

However, the socio-economic challenges South Africa face has become more apparent to me after I have been living in a developed and high quality of life country for so long. It has reinforced my views that no-one should ever have to live in such poverty and violence that most South Africans must endure on a daily basis. Especially as a woman, I now find it extremely sad and unacceptable that every woman I know is scared to walk alone at night or travel into certain areas alone as result of South Africa’s high crime rate. Although South Africa, like every other country in the world, has its problems, there is no other place I would rather live for the long term. My study abroad experience has not only exposed me to many new and different places, people, customs, food, and cultures, but has also made me extremely proud to be a South African and to call this country my home. However, I did love the whole experience of studying abroad, thus I would like to sometime in the next 10 years go and live in a new country for an extended period to keep on broadening my horizons and experiencing new people and places.

September 19, 2023
Emily Hobson at UNC Greensboro, USA

Emily Hobson

BCom International Business

Semester Exchange in the Second Semester, 2022 at UNC Greensboro

Pre-departure:

…where to begin? The first thing (which I’m sure you will hear 100 times) is to start with all the admin early. The admin work that goes into travelling is definitely the least fun part of the whole experience, but it will all just be a tiny blip in your memory once you are actually overseas. The UNCG international office was very efficient and after I heard that I had been accepted, they were quite quick to mail me the documents I needed to apply for a US visa. I applied online immediately but I experienced huge issues with the US Consulate in Cape Town.

Basically, once you apply online you are usually able to make an appointment for your in-person interview, however there was a ‘technical issue’ with my account which was left unresolved for months… After calling and emailing the consulate countless times, the issue was still not resolved. By the time June came around I was freaking out, but I kept calling the embassy multiple times a day until they paid attention to me. I finally had my visa appointment, received my visa a couple days later and booked my flight to the US. Four days later I was on my way!

In the months leading up to your departure, I would suggest that you keep a to-do list on your phone to constantly update and tick off. My to-do list included things such as getting travel insurance, getting health insurance, ensuring my bank card would work overseas, buying dollars, making a budget, getting the vaccines I needed, booking flights, submitting the necessary documents to Stellenbosch and UNCG etc. Keeping a list of everything helped me feel much more in control and just ticking one thing off your list each day is very satisfying!

UNCG was also very helpful and responsive to any questions I had. Do check your emails regularly and to keep in touch with the international office and ask as many questions as you need to – they are used to dealing with students from all around the world so never feel like you are asking something silly. As the June exams approach, you will be trying to contain your excitement for this new adventure while studying for exams so the last thing you want to be dealing with is travel admin. I remember standing outside of the Study Centre on the phone to the US Embassy in tears while trying to study for an exam… it is not fun. Some things are out of your control but try your best to do everything you can before exams come around so that you do not have that extra pressure on yourself.

Experience at the host university:

UNCG is situated in a small town (Greensboro) in North Carolina and is not the most interesting and definitely not as beautiful as Stellenbosch. It is like Stellenbosch in the sense that the university campus is a big part of the town and there is a similar number of students. It is a very diverse university, with many people from different states, countries and financial backgrounds. It is not a big football school; in fact, it does not have American Football at all so you will not get that typical American movie college experience. I did love how central Greensboro was on the East Coast. This made it relatively easy to travel around the country compared to if you were far in the North or South, for example. I was very keen to travel as much as possible during my time in the US so I deliberately chose classes that were in the middle of the week so I would have long weekends to travel. I was very lucky and ended up only having lectures on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Most of my lectures were in the Bryan School of Business and when selecting my modules, I tried to choose ones which were unique and which I could not take at Stellenbosch. For example, I took a module called ‘Global Health Entrepreneurship’ which was incredibly interesting and much more niche than the Entrepreneurship modules I’m used to. This is the one opportunity you will have to take weird and wonderful modules; I encourage you to step out of your comfort zone. I found the workload to be much less than I was used to. There was a lot of little homework assignments I needed to do, but they were all relatively easy and did not take up a lot of my time. If you go to class, complete all the assignments, and study an average amount, you can definitely get an A. Most of my lectures were much smaller in size compared to Stellenbosch and I found that the lecturers engaged with you on a much more personal level than I was used to – they spoke about their families, their past jobs and their daily lives. The lectures were also much more participative and casual than I had experienced at Stellenbosch.

Emily with a friend on campus

I would highly recommend that you stay at Tower Village if you go to UNCG. This is a residence made up of many apartment style dorms where most of the international students stay, as well as some American students. I absolutely loved staying there –I had my own room, and I shared a large bathroom, lounge and kitchen with four other girls. There were 60 other international students living there and we all became one big family. We often went out as a group of international students to explore downtown Greensboro, shop, and go to the few bars and clubs. Top tip: if you find yourself in Greensboro, go to the Corner Bar on a Tuesday night. You can get a beer for $1, and this is the student night, so it is a great place to meet new people!

I had an unlimited meal plan which allowed me to eat at the cafeteria (the ‘Caf’ as the students call it) as many times a day as I wanted. At first, I was very worried about the variety and quality of the food at the Caf, especially as I am a vegetarian. Much to my surprise, they had everything: pizza, pasta, burgers, a salad bar, an Asian section and a vegan/vegetarian section. After a while, the food can become a bit repetitive and it was oilier and saltier than I was used to, but I was still very grateful to not have to shop, cook and clean for myself. I would highly recommend getting a meal plan as this is also a time to sit down and chat with all the other students daily.

As much as your semester abroad is about being exposed to academics at a different level, it is also about immersing yourself in the culture, meeting new people and travelling to new places. I made many new friends, mostly with the other international students. I must admit, I struggled to connect with the American students. I found them to be very friendly at first but not very engaging and interested in you on a deeper level. This is a stereotype, but Americans are known to be individualistic and a bit self-absorbed, and from my experience this is true. My one goal during the semester was to travel as much as I could and I was fortunate enough to travel to many new places such as Charlotte, Charleston, Chapel Hill, the Smoky Mountains, Nashville, Boston, Chicago, New York City and a few places in Florida. Flights within the US can be very expensive, especially if you do not book them far in advance. A great option is to hire a car with a group of people and to make a road trip out of it. One thing I would therefore highly encourage you to do before leaving South Africa is to get an international driving license (it is just a piece of paper, there’s no test or anything), and to get a credit card. The rental car companies will not let you be the driver of the hired car unless you are the one that is paying for it, and to pay for it you must have a credit card.

Emily in Greensboro

Return to Stellenbosch:

I returned to South Africa after a trip of a lifetime just in time for Christmas. It was such a bittersweet moment as I was incredibly sad to say goodbye to all the wonderful people, I had met but I was also so happy to see my friends and family and be back in sunny Cape Town. The last few weeks in the US were quite an emotional rollercoaster – realizing that the whole experience was over already, that you would never have that time back and would probably never be with your whole group of friends again. I was very happy to be home and it helped that I arrived back at a time when there were things to look forward to such as Christmas, New Years and a whole summer holiday still left to enjoy.

It was so fun to be able to tell my friends and family about my experience and show them my pictures, but it is also hard to recount such a unique experience to people who did not live it themselves. The hype of arriving home does fade quite quickly and for me it kind of felt like I had never left. It is easy to come home and feel very critical of all South Africa’s problems which you may not have seen or experienced abroad, such as poverty, loadshedding, crime… the list goes on. As much as it breaks my heart that our beautiful country experiences these things on such a severe level, there is also so much that South Africa does have that other countries do not. I was more hyper-aware of all the problems we experience as a country on my return, but I was also incredibly grateful for the beautiful country we live in, for the South African humor and slang us locals use and all the eccentricities of our diverse country.

Travelling widens your perspective on many things. One thing that stood out for me from conversations with my European friends was how the opportunities for internships, scholarships and jobs in Europe far exceed what we have in South Africa. I am now very interested in doing my Masters in Europe and possibly working there in the next couple of years. I also realized from talking to other international students that I really need to up my game in terms of internships and experience before I enter the working world. I am so grateful that I was able to have such interesting and eye-opening conversations with such a wide variety of people because I now have a much better understanding of how some systems and processes work outside of South Africa. I think it is very easy for us to become consumed in the bubble of South Africa so this study abroad experience is invaluable.

September 19, 2023
Courtney Mocke at Maastricht University, The Netherlands

Pre-departure:

The exchange semester included in BCom International Business is one of the most attractive features of the degree. So when exchange finally approached, to say I was a tangled mess, feeling both excited and overwhelmed, is an understatement! After careful consideration and many late nights doing research into each available institution, I had eventually felt lead to Maastricht University in the Netherlands. This was largely due to their renowned international orientation and progressive Problem Based Learning (PBL) education system and, if I’m being honest, its prime location for traveling in Europe.

I was pleasantly surprised (and relieved) by the level of organization and communication from Maastricht University. Once our nominations went through from Stellenbosch, I was contacted by Maastricht almost immediately with a detailed PDF on how next to proceed. They essentially held my hand and guided me through the entire process – applying for housing, applying for my residential visa, setting up my university profile and registering for my courses – and were both quick and happy to respond to any queries that I emailed to them.

Approximately 50% of Maastricht University’s student body is comprised of international students and they offer an extensive exchange program, and it truly shows. The university organized housing for me and provided me with a housing scholarship; they prompted me regarding the necessary documents for my residential visa as they did the application through their in-house visa office; and my email inbox was filled to the brim with relevant PDF documents that pre-empted all my many questions and also made sure I knew the ins and outs of all the academic (and social) life at Maastricht… I was never at a loss for information and assistance.

And while it was relatively smooth sailing because of Maastricht’s hands-on approach, that’s not to say there weren’t a couple of hiccups on my side. I received an email to say that my long-stay visa was ready for collection, but when I arrived to collect it from the embassy in Pretoria, they had no record of my application! Long (and stressful) story short, the university does the application for you on their side, however you still need to book an appointment to apply for the document collection in South Africa too. At this appointment, you are required to hand in your passport, so while the turnover time is relatively quick, allow some time for that. Apparently the wording of the email is misleading and the embassy is in the process of adjusting it, so I took some small comfort in the fact that I was amongst many other people who had made the same mistake!

Nevertheless, the level of professionalism, efficiency and clear communication from the university put my (and both my parents’) minds at ease. I am so grateful for the impressive organization of their international department, since it truly allowed me to enjoy the excitement (and bypass a lot of the pre-departure admin stress) in the time leading up to my departure.

Experience at Host University:

Maastricht’s Problem Based Learning system is a major drawcard to the university. So I approached the academic aspect of my exchange semester with a mixture of apprehension and intrigue. Having grown accustomed to the Stellenbosch education system, in which it is easy to disengage from the work when you sit in a lecture hall of hundreds of students, the interactive PBL system required some adjustment.

I quickly learnt that the system is one that demands a lot of time and effort from the students. I attended weekly classes that took the form of interactive tutorials with 10 to 15 people, had extensive lists of articles to get through and self-prepare ahead of each tutorial, had to facilitate and lead the discussion on several occasions, and was required to participate in numerous group projects. Simply put: it was a lot of hard work and the responsibility for your learning falls squarely on your shoulders.

However, it was the most captivated and engaged I’ve ever been with university content (and, therefore, the most prepared I’ve felt when it came to exams). I took a range of subjects including Comparative Management, Globalization Debate, Brand Management and Management of Organizations, and finally ended my semester with a practical term on Presentation Skills (which was a leap out of my comfort zone that ended up being so rewarding). The tutorials are monitored by tutors (usually Masters students) who do not participate in the discussions, unless they intervene to clarify a concept. Therefore, we learnt through discussing and debating amongst ourselves, so I quickly learnt to find my voice, formulate informed opinions and open my mind to the many different perspectives of students from all over the world. This system of engaging with one another also meant I was no longer an anonymous exchange student engulfed in a large lecture hall. It gave me so many opportunities to meet people and get to know one another and I made some of my best friends on exchange through tutorials together.

Another attractive feature of Maastricht University is its strong international inclination. With a diverse student body, many exchange programs and internationally-oriented academic and research content, I was never the “outsider” as an exchange student. Meeting people from different countries was the norm and varying perspectives and experiences from all different parts of the world were embraced. I honestly appreciated this component of my exchange. It was enlightening to make internationally-diverse friends, comforting that the university makes all provisions for exchange students, and it also meant that there was no real language barrier since English was the common language of communication.

This demography extends into the city itself. Maastricht, being on the border of Belgium and Germany, is internationally-diverse and is truly student-oriented with the campus extending all across the city (much like Stellenbosch). My attachment to the city happened very slowly at first, and then seemingly all at once it began to feel like home when I would return from traveling in Europe.

When I wasn’t preparing for tutorials or working in groups on projects, I would take every opportunity to travel. This was the dream of so many of us: embracing the academic opportunity that exchange provides, but also taking full advantage of the privilege that it is to travel and have diverse cultural experiences. I spent most weekends traveling in the Netherlands, to Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Spain, either meeting up with fellow Stellenbosch students on exchange or with newfound international friends. As many of us agreed upon our return: the lows were low, but the highs were really high. And these opportunities and memories were the experiences that made all the physical, emotional and admin challenges of exchange worth it.

Return to Stellenbosch:

As I mentioned before, the adjustment to exchange happened very slowly at first, and then suddenly all at once. Honestly, the first couple of months were lonely.

And they were filled with so many embarrassing stumbles as I navigated public transport (even more so when attempting this with luggage!), staring at prices trying to convert euros to Rands (pro-tip: don’t do it to yourself), initiating conversations with total strangers, and navigating icy, rainy weather conditions.

But upon my return to South Africa, I realized that those “lonely” moments became moments of introspection, re-evaluating myself and my aspirations (plus, those lonely moments didn’t last forever and the friends I made were worth the wait).

And those “embarrassing” moments just broke down some of my defense mechanisms, and I slowly learnt that it was okay not to have everything figured out and that sometimes all I needed to do was be patient with myself (and, more often than not, just to laugh at myself). These lessons were so empowering and I’m holding on tightly to the person that I grew into upon my return.

The return home was an unexpected adjustment. I expected a sense of relief that comes with the familiarity of home, and comfort in knowing how things work and the norms of South Africans in general. And that was present to some extent, but I struggled to reconcile that while seemingly nothing had changed in my external home environment, so much had changed within me. Almost everything felt conflicted. I felt frustrated with the apathy that characterizes so much of South African infrastructure, because I was so impressed by the self-discipline, efficiency and integrity that made up so much of the Dutch culture. And yet, for all the productivity and straight-forward communication of the Dutch, the beauty of our country and the open warmth and friendliness of South Africans is unparalleled. When I landed at OR Tambo International upon my return, the man at passport control told me “welcome home”. I may have shed a tear or two. And I could write an entire blog post dedicated to the natural beauty of our country, and my renewed appreciation for it.

While I learnt that traveling is the most enriching experience and prompts so much personal growth, I also learnt that South Africa is home. And a beautiful one. My future plans definitely include traveling. In what capacity, I’m not sure yet, but I do know that I will grab any chance that enables me to travel, pushing back my personal barriers and experiencing diverse cultures. And then I will return home to South Africa at the end of every venture.

Ultimately, exchange is an opportunity I would recommend to everyone. It puts everything into perspective when your world is expanded in that way, both externally and internally. Exchange prompted much introspection, invaluable lessons on independence and self-reliance, re-evaluating my plans for the future and also opened me up to a network of people all across the world. I will always be grateful for these invaluable outcomes and, most of all, grateful that exchange was the catalyst for my pursuit of the person I am growing into.

July 15, 2020