Divided By Boundaries, United By Emotions

Name: Utkarsh Dalmia

Home University: School of Communication, Manipal University, Karnataka, India. Registration Number: 150701166

Host University: Dept. of Communication & IT, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Groningen, The Netherlands. Registration Number: 367350

The following is a report on my semester exchange program at Hanze UAS, Groningen and I hope it's insightful for the reader and also fellow students who're keen on applying for the same.

Application: Going for a semester abroad can be one of the most life enriching and perspective altering experience one can have, and I was honoured to be given this lifetime opportunity by my esteemed home and host universities. The application procedure for the exchange programme included the cumulative academic grades, an SoP (Statement of Purpose) and finally an interview session held by a panel of professors. Once I cleared the aforesaid criterion, it was time for the VISA, passport and immigration procedure, which in my case was a little strenuous task since I had to apply for my passport and some affiliating documents afresh. Alternatively, the VISA process is not burdensome if one has all the documents furnished on time and also the international coordinators were of great help at difficult times.

Preparation: After receiving the offer letter and coming one step close to studying at the student cosmopolitan town of Groningen in the north of Holland, which I was longing for, I started hunting for an accommodation right away. Student dorms for incoming international students are offered by Dutch agencies such as SSH (sshxl.nl) at competitive prices or else one can also opt for renting a room in a private apartment. Numerous Facebook pages and websites like housinganywhere.com can put an end to all your accommodation woes, but it's always advisable to book it at least 2-3 months prior to your stay in order to get all the amenities at an affordable price.
The next step was to prep up myself for the culturally, socially & the ethnically transformational journey I was going to embark. The initial phase of excitement can leave one euphoric, and the best way to overcome all the inhibitions about ‘blending in’ would be to stay the unique self that you are and rest will follow.

Academics: The 5 month semester at Hanze was divided into two blocks and I enrolled myself for the Minors in Journalism course. Although, there weren't an array of subjects to choose from, it was still pretty much diversified with subjects like Interviewing, Project ; wherein we had coach meetings with the assigned groups every week and wrote articles pertaining to different interests, most of which had to be as fieldwork assignments. I also got the opportunity to interview the Mayor of Groningen about the ongoing issues in the Netherlands and got it published in our University magazine. Alternatively, there were subjects like Journalistic Writing, Audio Visual Media and Press Media Theory. Other than Press Media Theory, which had a written exam and a report to be given in pairs, all the subjects were assignment based and had to be updated on the digital platform ‘blackboard’ before the deadline. Most of the assignments were done in groups, and even though it seemed a little challenging in the beginning, it was an enlightening experience to work with mates from the States, Spaniards, Dutchies, Austrians and Russians amongst others. What glued me the most was the common platform we were given to work on a project for which each of us had different levels of intellect, prior skills and language proficiency to do so, yet all our cultural and educational backgrounds coincided for mutually accomplishing the tasks. For AV Media we were taught the nuances of modern era photojournalism and its impacts, did an individual Data Visualisation task, made two short films and threw more light on storytelling through visually appealing art forms. Our writing prowess was proliferated many folds since we had to write opinion pieces on global issues, news & feature articles, reviews on ongoing popular interests etc. Press Media was undoubtedly my favourite subject since it provided an in depth information of the past, present and the future prospects of the media functionality surpassing all boundaries and bringing International Relations a notch closer than ever before. Also, our professor Dr. Bart Nillesen is a genius of a different kind who imparted the understanding of the subject that could be used for a lifetime. The differences that I observed in the Dutch education system as opposed to the Indian one was firstly how digitised the whole platform was, and secondly how practical education held more importance than the theoretical counterpart. More emphasis was laid on us, the “legal aliens”, to go around the city, get to know it better, shed our inhibitions and then timely report the matters of significance.

Travel: As some learned person said, traveling is not a part of education, IT IS Education in itself. Holland, located strategically in the north west of Europe opened avenues for me to explore most of the continent. Having traversed through 15 countries covering the length and breadth of Europe, I could easily say the entire tenure was one for the books with memories to cherish and moments to remember eternally. Ranging from the magnanimous Swiss Alps, to the picturesque islands of Greece and Turkey to the enchantingly historical cities of Spain, Italy, France, Hungary, Czech, Germany etc, one place that imprinted a lifelong impression on me would be the country with the Northernmost capital of the world, Iceland.
After having seen glaciers, active volcanoes, hot water springs and the point where tectonic plates separate from one another, there was an eternal self realisation that travelling had on me.
Not did I got the opportunity to experience vibrant cultures through the art, history, language and food, but I also got the chance to interact with people who had varied outlooks for life. Travelling was a learning experience for both myself and also the people I encountered.Travelling made me meet people with different cultural backgrounds and getting to know them sometimes altered my own opinions and beliefs about various things. Moreover, I learned, It's important to learn to see things from other people's perspectives and to challenge your own preconceptions. Furthermore, being on a constrained student budget it was an excruciatingly painful task to find the cheapest deals for the commute and the accommodations. But to my rescue came handy travel apps like GoEuro.com where one could find the comparison between different modes of transport and sometimes low carrier flights were even cheaper than buses. For accommodation, I solely relied on Hostelworld.com, Airbnb and Couchsurfing since it enabled me to meet new people turned friends for life.

Cultural Expansion: Coming to the most pivotal part of the exchange was the cultural evolvement I was indulged into. When we as students were asked to be with people from different realities, upbringings, cultures, backgrounds etc, it asked for a broadening of perspectives and outlook for life. This program helped me become more independent and boosted my confidence not just in my approach but also in my thought process and how I perceived things. When cultures from all across the globe, so to say literally all 7 continents, join hands together to break all conventional stereotypes, it is an experience cherished beyond words. I learned how, we, as humans are Divided by Boundaries, yet United by Emotions ( a phrase I coined, phew!). It wasn't just about gaining a better understanding of how different cultures works, but about connecting the dots as to how it's an amalgamation to minimise our difference and increase the commonalities we had.