Alumni dreams #25

Twan Hol chose a Master in Journalism and New Media inspired by his thesis on propaganda with the Nieuwscheckers, a university-led initiative to combat fake-news.

He is doing an internship at the AD de Dordtenaar, researching local journalism with the Dutch Journalism Fund.

His BA internship in Thailand led to a place in the Board of the Hill Tribes’ Children Foundation! Twan lectures to create awareness of the problems the Thai hill tribes face.

Next target: a freelance journalism career next to a second Master in International Relations!

Alumni dreams #31

Seeking to improve health outcomes in developing and conflict-ridden countries, Simren Herm-Singh went on to a Master in International Development, majoring in Diplomacy and Global Health at Sciences Po in Paris, France.

In September Simren got her first job as a Project Development Officer for Community Health and WASH in Southeast Madagascar!

She is now working on a rural, community-led WASH intervention in the isolated Anosy region, helping over 10000 beneficiaries gain access to safe drinking water.

Reaching for success!

Alumni dreams #34

After graduation Sjors Storms did the Global Political Economy track of the International Relations Master at Leiden University, which he completed in August of this year.

In September he started working at the Embassy of the Argentine Republic to the Netherlands, where he is in charge of enhancing commercial, investment & tourist exchanges between Argentina and the Netherlands!

Still in love with the city of Buenos Aires, he will be moving back to Argentina later this year to further pursue his international work experience!

Alumni dreams #42

After graduation, Chloe Desesquelles went to an International Summer School in Istanbul for two weeks, called “Law on the Bosphorus IV”. It was in partnership with Leiden University and focused on the themes of Human Rights Law and Criminal Justice.

She then started her two-years Master of Science in Security, Conflict and International Development (Distance Learning) at the Criminology Faculty of Leicester University. 

At the same time, she completed an internship at International Criminal Court for six months. She is now working as a Witness Assistant at the court and she is really enjoying it!

Good on you Chloe!

Alumni dreams #43

After the BA, Ecesu Erol went on to UvA, for the MA New Media and Digital Culture. Then she began an internship at a startup in the center of Amsterdam in content marketing at Unless.com.

It was for 3 months but they mutually decided to extend it to 6 months. After this Ecesu plans on doing a 3-month full-time course in UI/UX design at New York Code + Design Academy through the B. Startup School Amsterdam.

This will also be followed with a 6-month internship in UI/UX, after which the job market awaits!

Good luck Ecesu! 

Alumni dreams #60

Eva Ceh specialized in consultancy and (field) research through various posts at TECHO, Pixtlan and SERRULA RESEARCH LIMITED, including a 6-month internship consulting Mexican government to improve the position of cocoa growers in the global market.

She greatly enjoyed her internship, as part of it was making a documentary and traveling with very inspiring people. After completing the internship she got accepted to an MSc in International Public Policy at the University College London (UCL) and she submitted her thesis on hip-hop and citizenship in the Andes!

Now she is looking into opportunities with social impact consultancies, social enterprises and development. Eva has also joined a short course on practical documentary filmmaking she hopes to explore further!

Alumni dreams #62

After Noortje Minkhorst graduated she went backpacking through South East Asia for 4 months. After this amazing and enriching experience she was looking for opportunities to put obtained knowledge into practice.

Back in Holland Noortje started a traineeship at Kaemingk a big importer of season decorations with customers from all over the world. This international focus is what attracted her the most!

During the traineeship she got the opportunity to travel to Indonesia, Vietnam and China for business, a great way to explore her interests and obtain more skills!

Alumni dreams #64

Mira Kinn returned to Santiago de Chile as a communications and development intern at NGO VE Global. Then she started an MA International Studies on Media, Power, and Difference at Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona. She was drawn to this MA for its unique approach to "the media's role in the construction, representation, and recognition of difference and diversity on the basis of the groups deemed most vulnerable."

She also did the Erasmus program studying a semester at the University of Westminster in London. She is now interning at the Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production (CSCP) in Wuppertal/Germany, a non-profit think- and -do-tank founded by UNEP and the Wuppertal Institut, at their sustainable lifestyle branch.

After she wants to continue in the sector of communications and sustainability, ideally linked to Latin America (the area she studied in the BA), and cannot wait for it!

Alumni dreams #77

After graduation, Roos Imkamp traveled to Argentina to live in Cordoba for 3 months and practice Spanish. During which she thought about her future and realized she really wanted to specialize in sustainability.

This came as no surprise, with a huge Greenpeace fan for a sister and being raised a vegetarian. One thing led to another and last September she finished the MSc Global Business and Sustainability at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University.

Now, 3 months later, she is very excited to share that she has started her job as a junior consultant at KplusV in the field of Sustainable Environment (e.g. social and circular economy)!

Amazing and interesting track Roos. Enjoy your career!

Alumni dreams #78

Passionate to expand knowledge of today’s world problems and their solutions, Victor D. Jarzagaray stayed at Leiden University for the MA International Relations focusing on Global Conflict in the Modern era.

Victor has been working at the university in a Mentorship Program for International Master Students for all support during residence in The Netherlands and as information officer at open days.

He also does this for The Kabinet van de Gevolmachtigde Minister van Aruba in The Hague. As Introduction Commission leader, Victor helps newly arrived Aruban students start their lives at Leiden, Delft and The Hague. The course knowledge of Organizational Theory, Culture and Behavior helped in many situations.

He has been assisting lectures on justice and the future of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Victor has also been researching Transitional Justice and working on his thesis. He is very inspired by the courses and people he has encountered thus far.

This year he will graduate and join the new generation of young professionals who accept the challenge to work together for a better world!

Always powerfully positive Victor!

Alumni dreams #103

After graduating, Harm Derks started his internship at Transfer Latin Business Consultancy in Paris. He collaborated in matchmakings and group visits during the Dutch Royal Trade Mission to New Zealand!

He also was involved in the matchmakings of companies during trade missions to France in renewable (wind-)energy and sports-infrastructure.

Harm is now a consultant there, in charge of increasing various companies’ exports to France and Spain. Last year he worked on matchmaking and coordination during the Dutch economic mission to Canada on resilient cities!

Harm can build on the qualities and skills acquired during his PRINS consultancy course. Good communication, through international (language, habits-related) differences is key. The BA International Studies has been very  valuable for him in this respect.

What a track, enjoy your life (as consultant) Harm!

Alumni dreams #105

Bert Venema did the BA with a specialization in Latin America and Honours College: Tackling Global Challenges. After he started the MA International Relations in Leiden and for one semester he did an internship at the Economic Department of the Dutch Embassy in Lima, Peru!

Bert is now finishing his master with a specialization in Global Political Economy and wrote his thesis on market mechanisms for addressing climate change.

He has also been accepted for another internship at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC Netherlands) in The Hague!

Congratulations Bert on all the progress. Enjoy applying your accumulated knowledge to your work!

Alumni dreams #121

Charlotte Honnigfort explored different ways on how to apply the knowledge gained in her degree in practice. She did a year of internships at the German political Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Santo Domingo, the Saxon Ministry of State for Integration and Equal Treatment in Dresden and the human rights organization Society for Threatened Peoples in Göttingen!

It was full of great experiences, interesting encounters and showed her the various work possibilities the BA can lead to. It also reassured her that international development is both her interest and future area of work.

Charlotte then started her Research Master in Development Studies at the University of Oxford! Her research is on sexual and reproductive health, gender-based violence and on the role of civil society in promoting women’s rights.

For her dissertation, she will spend the summer on fieldwork in Mexico, hopefully being able to talk to many local activists and civil society actors. Amazing!

Enjoy your explorations Charlotte!

Alumni dreams #131

After graduation Estelle van Aanholt decided to travel through South America and experience everything in real life! It made her realize that everything learned during her Bachelors was very valuable. She could relate a lot of the theory discussed to real life situations.

Upon returning to the Netherlands, Estelle got a job at a large company specialized in outdoor footwear, joining a team responsible for a change in processing. The experience made her aware of her interests in change and process management. That is why she started her Masters in Culture, Organization and Management at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU Amsterdam).

Now she is writing her thesis about the effect of organizational change on an organizational culture and its employees. She is convinced that it is very important to take every actor into account when changing organization, something that is often forgotten. She aims to finish her Masters and find a traineeship or job in the area of change or process management.

Glad you found your drive Estelle! Enjoy the theory and practice of organizational theory and behavior!

Alumni dreams #154

During her bachelor, Anna Maria Elisabeth Pot (Marieke) specialized in the Latin American region and went on exchange to Puebla, Mexico. After graduating she went back to Mexico for an internship at the department of Politics and Public Diplomacy of the Dutch embassy, focusing on human rights. Whilst there, she was accepted for the Master in International Affairs at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva.

Marieke follows the tracks ‘Global Security’ (major) and ‘Environment, Resources and Sustainability’ (minor). Now between first and second year, she is doing a summer internship at ShelterCity Amsterdam, assisting a human rights defender from Mexico during her temporary stay in the Netherlands!

As her interest lies in international humanitarian law (IHL), she took electives and will continue to focus on this through a research project on armed non-state actors as medical service providers with a fellow student and partner organization Geneva Call and writing her thesis on artificial intelligence in IHL. 

Her future aim is to work for an organization like The Red Cross. Dream big Marieke! The world lies in your hands!

Alumni dreams #156

After her BA International Studies, Maika Boronat Lugtmeijer did the MA Latin American Studies, focusing on Public Policy. Last summer she went to Brazil to do research and this spring she graduated Cum Laude!

She then started a traineeship in project management at Public Support an agency that places trainees in the public sector. Her first project was at the municipality of Katwijk (Omgevingswet) and soon she will be supporting 6 projects at the municipality of Vlaardingen.

At Gemeente Vlaardingen Maika is going to support projects at the department of urban development. While not very much related to her BA and more with her MA (Latin American Studies - specializing in Public Policy), the public policy side of this whole experience is very enjoyable!

Enjoy all your progress and development Maika! Here she is after graduation, making her mark on Leiden's 'Sweat Room'!

Alumni dreams #162

Ralph Backx really liked participating in the highly international and open-minded environment of his BA. This is why he enrolled for the MSc International Public Management & Policy at Erasmus University Rotterdam, as the master supported a similar international character and teaches courses on how international organizations (IOs) are increasingly important in a time of globalization and border-crossing problems (i.e. migration, climate change).

A highlight was organizing a study trip to Geneva and Brussels (to the UN, WTO, GCSP and EU institutions), providing real insights into the workings of IOs. Recently he defended his thesis on the concept of soft power as a zero-sum game. He analyzed Dutch public opinion during the Cold War with a 300+ page survey book (dating from the Cold War period in the Netherlands) to measure American vs. Soviet Union soft power.

On the day of his defense, he got a job at Considerati; a privacy and public affairs consultancy for the digital world! He is very excited to get hands-on experience in public affairs and to keep on learning and growing professionally as well as personally.

Congratulations on your achievements Ralph! Here he is celebrating with Erasmus!

Alumni dreams #183

After graduating from the BA, Rick Padmos completed his other bachelor in Political Science: International Relations and Organization. Then he decided to do his Master’s in Comparative and International Politics at the KU Leuven, being really attracted to the curriculum and its international reputation.

During that year Rick also became a coach at Academics for Development, a student organization focused on sustainable social entrepreneurship. His role was to support a multidisciplinary team of students who were going to help a local farm in Peru to expand their business and social program!

Upon graduation he started working in Antwerp for a consultancy firm and when the opportunity arose to become Management Trainee at TAQA, an energy company in Alkmaar, Rick knew that this would be something for him.

He had some experience in the energy sector due to PRINS. During that consultancy project he came in contact with Shell and their ambition to broaden their energy resources. This really interested him!

Great progress Rick! In the future he hopes to contribute to a smooth energy transition, so that everybody can enjoy the beautiful world we live in today!