Alumni (board) dreams #8

After the BA and Board membership of BASIS The Hague (Secretary), Roxanne Hoenstok continued her MA in International Relations and also pitched in the Rotterdam100 Talent Competition.

She is completing her MA while working in the Marketing & Communications department at SIM-CI ~ Simulating Critical Infrastructures. She is helping organize events facilitating public-private partnerships, writing articles for the corporate website and devising online marketing and social media strategies.

At this innovative start-up/scale-up, no two days are ever the same which keeps things interesting. She also joined the Alumni Association Board.

What a track in debating, administration and marketing!

Alumni dreams #37

After graduation Dana Poláčková took a semester off to explore South-East Asia, combined with teaching English to local children as a volunteer.

Dana began her MSc in Crisis and Security Management and has been building work experience in the security field.

She is now interning at the Slovak Embassy in The Hague, primarily advising the permanent representation of the Slovak Republic to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) during meetings of its Executive Council! She discovered this interest in the OPCW after partaking in the PRINS student consultancy course for the organization.

Always highly professional Dana!

Alumni dreams #63

After graduating, Sira Cordes spent a year interning. She spent time at Konrad Adenauer Stiftung in Buenos Aires, Argentina and helped with a course on transnational organized crime at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

She also researched chemical and nuclear weapons as an intern at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. In the PRINS course she had already consulted for the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

Sira is now in Washington D.C. where she studies Security Studies at Georgetown University, with a focus in International Security. She has recently been chosen to work as a Junior Centennial Fellow with Claudia Escobar and is currently researching Guatemalan judicial impunity and corruption!

Alumni dreams #108

After graduating, Tess Morren moved to Sydney. She has been there almost 1,5 years now and is loving it! Before International Studies Tess studied Human Resources for a year. Now she found a job in Sydney where she can combine the two! She is working for Randstad Australia recruiting for the Australian government.

Tess is passionate about making a change for our global society by selecting the right people to work for governing bodies. Also she is very involved in setting up a Diversity and Inclusion policy at Randstad, with special focus on inclusion of women, people of mature age, youth and the indigenous community.

Once that has been set up and she will feel like she has made a real difference in the organization. The next step would then be a master's degree in International Relations. 

Tess feels like the BA opened up many doors for her, and the road to where she wants to be is long but super exciting! 

Enjoy the journey Tess and all the contributions you will make along the way!

Alumni dreams #123

Josja Dijkshoorn did the BA with winning PRINS consultancy project for Workplace Pride on sex education and LGBT inclusion. After she supported the grant-making process of the Red Umbrella Fund (host organization Mama Cash), a global fund by and for sex workers.

Josja is now interning at the UN Women Nationaal Comité Nederland and doing the MA Gender Studies at Utrecht University! She studies social issues from a feminist and post-colonial perspective to analyze and explain issues of emancipation, recognition of differences and awareness of intersections of gender with other factors of identity making including class, race, age, sexuality and disability.

She is interested in working on (workplace) diversity & inclusion and more intersectional approaches to this.

Fits the bill Josja! Congratulations on your progress!

Alumni dreams #150

After her BA with a specialization in American studies and Early Modern history Minor, Lisanne Kwantes did a master in European History. Halfway through she missed American politics and history and switched to Political History and again focused on the USA, the country she hates and loves at the same time. 

The mix of International Studies and political history proved an interesting approach to recent political developments in the USA. 

Then Lisanne unexpectedly got the opportunity to do an internship at the Dutch Consulate General in New York. As junior political officer she  works on reports on domestic political developments in the 9 Northeastern American states the Consulate is responsible for! 

What she loves most about political research is comparing historical developments to current issues, especially now, in a time of rapid changes and drastic developments in the USA and the rest of the world. 

She completed her MA thesis next to internship. Upon return she aims to continue her career in the field of political and historical research.

Go Lisanne! Here she is enjoying time at the Met in front of Washington Crossing the Delaware!

Alumni dreams #151

After her BA, Larissa Koedood continued with the MA International Relations at Leiden University, specializing in Culture and Politics. In her BA she had already started specializing in the field of memory studies through her minor Cultural Memory of War and Conflict and BA thesis on the collective memory of slavery and she continued developing her expertise throughout the master. 

Next to her MA she did an internship at the communication department of the The Clingendael Institute, where she discovered her interest for the practical side of institutions and developed these skills!

Next to her studies Larissa has been active as a volunteer within UN Women Nationaal Comité Nederland and her cultural student association A.S.V. Prometheus. She just handed in her MA thesis about the collective memory of 9/11 and the discourse around its commemoration, and is looking for her next adventure!

Enjoy all your achievements and next steps Larissa! Here she is shining at graduation!

Alumni dreams #157

After her BA, Tayra Algera did the MA North American Studies and wrote her thesis on New Atheism and the role of religion in the United States. She also did an internship and became a junior coordinator at an entrepreneurial company focused on the international healthcare sector!

It helped grasp distinctive business concepts. Tayra was in charge of a group of interns working together to set up healthcare centers. She learned to work systematically and saw business concepts come to life. She also helped develop business plans, analyze research and oversaw the development, implementation and execution of communication plans. 

These skills developed through the internship, but also through her BA, where she did a PRINS project on the improvement of strategies and processes of development organizations and advised on reacting to vast changes in politics and environment.

In the fall she begins a two year traineeship at Public Support working at different municipalities to eventually pursue an international focused career with the Dutch government!

Great track Tayra! Here she is smiling it up in Leiden after her graduation!