Did you know that every year here at IHS we welcome more than 200 students from over 45 nationalities? According to THE rankings, the Netherlands is among the top 20 countries with the most international universities, and we are proud to be one of them with our constantly expanding international family.
Who are our students?
Our students come from all over the globe in the pursuit of a degree from a recognised university and to experience living in an international environment. Here at IHS they definitely get the best of both worlds, because they have the opportunity to study together with people from so many different nationalities. They also come from various professional backgrounds such as architecture, environmental engineering, law, economics and many more. Among this fusion of cultures and knowledge, our students create together a unique learning environment where everyone has something different to bring to the table and something new to learn from others.
Why is international experience valuable?
Studying in an international environment gives you a one-of-a-kind opportunity to connect with like-minded people from all over the globe, who are just within hand’s reach from you. It is also a great chance to explore different viewpoints and to become more culturally aware. International experience is quite valued especially in the professional sphere as it makes you more resilient and competitive. And our students acquire this experience by learning from each other and thus growing together into individuals who are able to deal with all sorts of social and professional challenges.
Celebrating cultural diversity together
Besides studying together, our students also organise social events to celebrate together their cultural differences. For example, they held a Colombian evening with merengue, salsa and reggaeton music, where they gave each other dancing lessons. There was also a celebration organised for the Indian festival of light Diwali, for which our Indian students placed beautiful decorations and dressed up in their traditional clothing.
What do our students have to say?
We asked our students what their favourite part about studying with so many international fellow students was. Jacob Bowen, an Urban Management and Development 2016 alumnus from the USA, shared with us that he enjoyed the most the opportunity to build relationships with people from so many diverse backgrounds and even to taste their local cuisine.
Jacob Bowen "Definitely the social opportunity to make friends and have such a wide array of interpersonal relationships with people of so many different backgrounds! Each relationship provided a free sample to the many corners of the Earth in which we reside. And speaking of free samples, the most important thing was getting to taste the different foods!'
Prisca T Nyawali from Zambia is one of our short course alumni and she shared that her favourite part was hearing the one-of-a-kind stories from her fellow classmates about their life experiences and thus being able to gain a new social perspective.
Prisca T Nyawali 'You get a first-hand feeling of how people live in different parts of the world. When Sunita from Nepal spoke of living through earthquakes, or Manase from India talking about traffic jams in her home town, or Eric describing life in a Nairobi slum. The perspective you get from people who actually experience life in different parts of the world is so much richer than what we read or watch on TV.'
These are only a few examples of the many international students that we welcome every year. If you would like to get a further peek into student life at IHS and Rotterdam, visit our Student life and Career opportunities pages. We also recommend you to check out our blogs, where you will find useful information and tips on what studying and living in the Netherlands is like!
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Photo credit: Johan Mouchet
