I would recommend this programme a 100%

With a pilot license in hand and a dream to open his own flight school in Ghana, Felix chose the bachelor’s programme International Facility Management at Hanze University of Applied Sciences in Groningen. As a first-year student and aspiring entrepreneur, he and his team won the international World Workplace Student Challenge, earning a study trip to Minneapolis. Curious to know what drives him and how the programme prepares him for a global career? Felix shares his experience.

I'm originally from Ghana, in West Africa, where I had my education up until high school. After that I went to Hungary to get my pilot license. I completed the training. But that is not a bachelor certificate, and in this economy and in this world I feel like you definitely need a bachelor degree.

Whilst I was studying in Hungary, I went to my uncle in Groningen for a holiday. His wife is a teacher at Hanze and recommended me to study here. I chose Facility Management because my plan is to start a flight school in my home country Ghana. I think Facility Management fits best with that plan because it's quite broad. It gives you a lot of expertise and you get tought a whole lot about managing facilities. So I went for that, and now I'm studying here.

Living in Groningen, compared to the all other European countries I have visited, I think is the best. People are very friendly and always smiling and greeting you. The Netherlands is very beautiful and has a peaceful atmosphere to study in, especially as an international. When you do not know anybody, it’s very nice to have the general public being so hospitable to you.

The study International Facility Management is very broad; it includes almost everything. We studied, for example, information and financial management, which you probably won’t think of when you think about Facility Management. At the end of a four-year study you have bits of qualities in every field, so you become a full package. That’s what I like about the study.

One specific aspect of Facility Management that I find very interesting is the sustainability aspect. In this current climate, sustainability is a very big thing and the knowledge I’m gathering from our lectures is giving me deep insights to think about more sustainable practices.

We also have professional skills where we are trained on presentation skills and research skills. It's really developing me. Prior to coming here, presenting in front of even five people was a real headache for me, but since September I have done a lot of presentations and I can see huge improvement. Going for the World Workplace conference (a facility management conference for professionals and students), where I also had to present our project, was beyond my expectations. I met a lot of FM professionals from all over the world – different companies, different ideas, different ways of thinking – and all of us converging at one point was fantastic. I was able to see the depth of Facility Management more than I ever expected. I was part of the student challenge and fortunately my team won, so we are going to Minneapolis.

I definitely want to do my internship in the Netherlands and maybe an exchange in Finland. I would recommend this program one hundred percent. You build your professional skills, which is very important because when professionals meet, you need to have a common character to work together. Even though we come from different backgrounds, when we converge we need one language, and that is the professional skill to work efficiently.