'We do not have traditional lessons, but our classes are interactive with a lot of debate'

'Since my bachelor in Italy, I dreamt to do a master abroad. When I was looking for a master’s programme online, Groningen kept my attention. The reason is because it is one of the best student cities in the Netherlands and there is a good balance price-quality. I chose this master specifically because Hanze has a practical approach of studying and considering I had already a couple of years of working experience, I really wanted to develop a pragmatic approach more than an academic one.

Different approach

In the Master Interdisciplinary Business Professional, you can become an expert in different aspects of business, and that is what intrigued me. From the start of the programme, the teachers are really open with you, sharing their own professional insights and they truly help you in case of need. This kind of approach, very different from my bachelor in Italy, helped me a lot throughout the year because I felt that I was never alone. On the other hand, I found it hard, especially in the beginning of the master, to understand what was expected from me. I was not always completely sure if what I was doing was right or wrong. Over the course of the weeks, I realized that confusion and unpredictable situations are part of becoming a Business Professional. Therefore, I just changed my perspective of managing this situation, by being more confident of what I was doing and ask my classmates for help when needed.

Interactive

What I found interesting about the programme itself, is that we did not have traditional lessons, but our classes were interactive with a lot of debate between teachers and students. Each of us could bring something new to the table, and then discuss it all together. Moreover, every week we followed different topics, which made the programme really engaging. Everything is based on real-life companies’ issues. For example, I had to do a 3-month group project, where we had to solve an issue that a company in the north of the Netherlands was facing. That was really challenging and exciting at the same time!

Personalised programme

In this master you can really develop your soft skills, besides the hard skills, learn to understand your core strengths and try to apply them. Furthermore, in this master you have the freedom to choose your own topic for the assignments, which makes the programme personalized for each student. I would say that I can easily transfer the knowledge gained during this year to the professional field.'