{"id":4256,"date":"2017-07-26T15:20:00","date_gmt":"2017-07-26T13:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.sun.ac.za\/summerschoolsblog\/?p=4256"},"modified":"2017-07-26T15:21:53","modified_gmt":"2017-07-26T13:21:53","slug":"liezel-at-ku-leuven-belgium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sun.ac.za\/summerschoolsblog\/2017\/07\/26\/liezel-at-ku-leuven-belgium\/","title":{"rendered":"Liezel at KU Leuven, Belgium"},"content":{"rendered":"

The reason:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let me start of with a caveat: I\u2019m not your typical student. I\u2019m 35 and in my third year of studies. In my previous life as part of the workforce, having 21 days annual leave was the norm. With never-ending deadlines, taking full advantage of this was a challenge and at the end of the year I always ended up carrying over some unused leave days.<\/p>\n

Imagine then the complete mind-shift when I became a fulltime student again with an average of approximately 12 weeks holiday per year. The concept was daunting. What was I going to do with all this time? I\u2019m married and my husband still has to work, so long romantic vacations were not on the cards. Plus, of course, I don\u2019t have the luxury anymore of saving up a salary for a fun-filled getaway to somewhere exotic. I definitely also didn\u2019t just want to sit at home reading or binge watching series. No: I wanted to use this time in a smart way, maximising my four short years of being a full-time student again. I set out to learn as much as I can and challenged myself use this time to postion myself optimally for when I put down my pen during my final exam I\u2019\u2019ll be writing in 2018.<\/p>\n

So I made a rough list of things I thought I could keep myself productive with. I must admit, the holidays flew by faster than I expected and though I managed to do many of the things on my list, international exposure was always at the back of my mind. I was looking for an opportunity at the university that could support my hunger for learning.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The research:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I had read in one of the university newsletters about students that were granted overseas study opportunities, but I initially thought that this was reserved for student leaders and select degrees.<\/p>\n

I then came across the Stellenbosch University International (SUI) website sometime last year. I became excited as I realised that there were numerous international exchange opportunities and that it was open to students from all areas of study. Initially I thought a semester exchange might be possible, but after contacting our division I realised a summer school will be a better option.<\/p>\n

I began looking more closely at the European summer school options and set a reminder for myself to investigate it further closer to the 2017 deadline.<\/p>\n

When my exams ended in November 2016, I started trawling the SU I website again. I study dietetics and didn\u2019t see many options in the health sciences field, so I contacted mrs Sarah van der Westhuizen at the SUI, requesting a meeting to find out more. This turned out to be a great decision: Sarah not only explained how the funding works, but also pointed out that there were many summer school courses that could compliment my studies, depending on where I see my career going, even though they might not be specifically offered by a health sciences faculty at the respective universities.<\/p>\n

Since I\u2019m interested in stakeholder alignment to enable better health outcomes, I thought a course that included elements of business and politics could be an advantage.<\/p>\n

After some more hours spent researching, Belgium\u2019s KU Leuven University\u2019s Europe Inside Out Summer School seemed like a good fit. The university is consistently rated among the top in the world and has an excellent reputation for research and innovation. The modules they offered were in line with my interests and they also happen to have a longstanding academic relationship with Stellenbosch University.<\/p>\n

The application and preparation:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I then embarked on the application process. I must admit that for me, this process took some time as I was already emotionally invested in spending my next winter holidays overseas, soaking up sun and information. So I put quite a lot of effort into making the application video and writing the motivation.<\/p>\n

For the video, I looked online for references of good application videos. I wrote myself a little script and made a story board of how I thought the video should look like, and then chatted to a friend who does film editing to get some ideas of what footage I should gather. My husband then helped to film me at the various locations we identified, as well while I was saying the script. I Googled a lot of images and free music to slot into the video that were applicable to my script. My friend then digitally stitched it all together for me.<\/p>\n

Also remember to ask one or two lecturers who know you well to write a you a referral letter, explaining to them why you see this as a valuable opportunity to further your personal or academic growth. I was lucky that both of the lecturers I approached agreed to send a referral. Overall my division was very supportive when they learned that I wanted to get international exposure.<\/p>\n

Once I submitted all the required documents in March, I tried to forget about it. SU International lets you know about four weeks after your application if you\u2019ve been successful. When I received the email confirming that I was selected, I was elated.<\/p>\n

I couldn\u2019t start planning just yet, however: KU Leuven had a delay on their side and we only received confirmation and letters for visa application mid-May. The course was scheduled to start 2 July and I still wanted to visit friends in the Netherlands before the program officially started. It\u2019s also advised that you apply for your visa at least 3 weeks before departure, so the the timing was a bit tight. My exams also kicked off around this time, and I had to make sure that I didn\u2019t let the planning interfere too much with my studying.<\/p>\n

My solution was to rely on many little lists of everything that needed to be done and then systematically worked my way through them, slotting it in-between my study schedule.<\/p>\n

The experience:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I honestly don\u2019t even know where to begin to describe how enriching this experience has been!<\/p>\n

Each student could choose two out of six possible modules, and everyone did a core module.<\/p>\n

I chose the modules Doing Business with Europe<\/em> and Innovation and Entrepreneurship<\/em>. The core module was a crash course in European Union Policy and Politics as well as European History.<\/p>\n

Going to Leuven I was a bit apprehensive about what the core module would entail, as I wouldn\u2019t describe myself as a historical or political buff by a long shot. I was scared that my ignorance might show. These fears however turned out to be completely unfounded: the content was fascinating, to say the least, and the brilliant lecturers presented their material in a critical yet basic level, making it non-intimidating but still thought provoking, even for the laymen.<\/p>\n