Why I chose to Study for a Master abroad and You could too

Since this is my first blog post, I decided to go for the cliché approach by starting with an introductory blog post about myself, my studies and my ambitions. So, my name is Ben, 22 years young from the Netherlands. I did my bachelor Tourism and Leisure Management at Saxion University of Applied Sciences in Deventer. It was during this study where I developed my interest in marketing after following the module ‘Marketing in the Hospitality Industry’. After becoming more curious about the module and subject, I decided to do a marketing and communications internship at Convention Bureau Gelderland, a business unit of Tourism Board Veluwe Arnhem Nijmegen. This is where I was mainly responsible for creating online and offline content, managing their communication channels and providing support to events and partners. Ultimately, the internship was insightful and left me with a deeper interest in marketing, as I knew that there was still so much more to learn about in this field.

It was half a year later, when the graduation phase started and students had to find a research project for their dissertation. Although, knowing that it would tough and all the teachers warning for it, I decided (with my oh so stubborn and persistent attitude) to do a research project in combination with an internship at Marketing and PR agency Aviareps, since this was one of my last chances to gain extra experience and knowledge. So, I started the internship full of spirit, not knowing that the next seven months would be so full of stress… The thing was that I really enjoyed my colleagues and my responsibilities like executing campaigns and assisting with PR-projects, but that the research required so much time and had so many traps. Fortunately, in the end I managed to fulfill the job and pass my dissertation. So, would I do it again? As crazy as it sounds, absolutely YES! Why? Since this experience taught me so many things besides the marketing aspects, in terms of time management, ambitions and my personal development.

Graduated!

So, during my internship I was already reflecting on my future; am I going to work afterwards or continuing studying by doing a masters? The original plan was the latter, but the whole stressful graduation process, made me choose the first. So, I decided to reset my mind by working as an administration employee at an insurance company, while taking my time to orient on my next study. In the end, I decided to go for the Msc Strategic Digital Marketing at the University of South Wales. The following reasons explain why I chose to do my masters abroad;

More knowledge

With my bachelor education and experience as a foundation, I already have a lot of practical knowledge, which is what companies are often looking for, so I could potentially start in the workforce immediately. Nevertheless, in my opinion it is also nice to have a good dose of theoretical knowledge so that I not only know what I am doing, but also why I am doing it. The masters course enriches me with more interesting and relevant theories about my working field, while still having some practical elements (marketing is hands-on!). Thus, enabling me to do my work even better.

Expanding my network and job chances When you start a new study, you will of course have a new class and new teachers, and during this whole study process you will undoubtedly come into contact with various companies. All these people enlarge my network, which could help me later to land a job. On top of that an extra study shows companies that I have practical and theoretical knowledge, which expands and increases my (international) job opportunities and possibilities. Dutch companies especially like it, when you have foreign working experience.

Unique experience and personal development

Given the fact, that I will have to work in the ’big mature people world’ after finishing my masters, I decided that it was best to make the best out of my student time by choosing a masters course abroad. Not only, because I like to travel and be away from home, but also the opportunity to step out of my comfort zone by making new friends, improving my English, and learning new cultures and languages in an unfamiliar area.

Finance and time

As a Dutch bachelor student, I was unfortunate that my bachelor did not have a direct link with certain masters at Dutch universities, which would force me to do a transition program (pre-master foundation) that required me to pay and study one year extra. Luckily, the universities abroad did not have this, so I calculated that costs in terms of education, accommodation, transport and food, for a course in the United Kingdom (Treforest – one year) and in the Netherlands (Amsterdam and Nijmegen – both two years). The end results showed that the first option would be better in terms of time and costs, so with that and some other factors in consideration I decided to go for a masters abroad.

Hiking trip in Pen Y Fan with the squad

So, some time has already passed in the meantime and I am already halfway through my studies, and to be honest I am very content with the study and campus life. I look forward to what is coming next and am already looking for some interesting research topics for my dissertation as well as nice companies to apply for work after the course. I hope you enjoyed my first blog and please come back next Sunday for another blog!

Until next time!

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