Here are some things about me:
I am Lisa Stolk and at the moment of writing this I am 19 years old. This is my first year as an International facility Management student at the Hanze. The last few years I have been looking for an education that would be a good fit for me. I found this quite difficult because I did not know exactly what I liked. I found out that I really liked planning and organizing things. When I came across the study Facility Management I was very interested to know more. So I went to one of the open days and attended a study experience day. After these days I was really excited about the study. Once I knew that this was the study the question popped up if I wanted to do the Dutch or English course. Doing the English course never came to mind before that, but my English teacher on Havo said that it would be good for me and she believed that i could do that, so here I am.
Thoughts on year 3
Minor
International event management. When I was in my last year of high school, I realized that I like organizing and planning things. That is how I came across this study and why I would like to do the minor about event management. I am curious on how I am going to like it and if I still want to work in that field after the minor.
During these periods I thought about which minor I wanted to do and I also explored abroad. I have realized that the idea of going somewhere else sounds fun but is not the right timing for me currently. At NHL Stenden there are minors that have 15 credits so that way I can do 2 minors. My 2 choices are event management and hostmanship. These 2 work well together I think because they are both in the field of hospitality and costumer experience.
Intership
I have been in the hospital many times since I was a child. I always said that I would never work in the hospital or with patients. In high school we had a work experience day which I did in my regional hospital at the technical/medical department. That is when I realized how much is going on inside a hospital that you as a patient do not see. That is why I would really like to have an opportunity to go to a big hospital like UMCG. This way I can be in a hospital and help people (indirectly) but I do not have to treat a patient. I still find it hard to imagine what someone could do in this king of internship, but I know that there is a lot of hospitality involved (front desk, helping people find the way, working in a restaurant) and that sound very attracting to me.
since I am thinking about the minor in event management, I thought maybe I also ‘need’ to look for an internship in that field, but then I realized that there is also event in a hospital for both staff and patients.
Personally, I think it is interesting to see UMCG from another point of view then a patient.
Personal leadership: Electives
During this lecture we got a lot of information on many things. One of these being the electives. A first it seemed a bit vague until there were a few ideas on what you could do. When I saw organizing an event me and a classmate looked at each smiling. One of the others was becoming less stressed. This also applies to me and I think that this could also be incorporated in organizing an event.
It is now a few weeks later and I have a new idea. I noticed that I enjoy giving guest lectures and presentations, so I hope to organize something around this. In January 2026 I am giving a guest lecture at the study of occupational therapy about my own ‘life’ and experiences with my occupational therapist. In additional to guest lectures, I am thinking about contacting my high school English teacher to go there for some kind of presentation/lecture.
The idea changed once again. I am giving the guest lecture in January, but for the rest of the 5 credits I am not contacting my high school. At our church there has been the idea of organizing and youth serving and I thought, this is a great change to link it tothe electives. So I will be organizing a church serving with a friend.
My first impressions
When writing the 2nd periode has just began and I really like it in English so far. In general I am surprised about how fast I got used to lectures in English. Talking English on the other hand is a bit more challenging.
Looking back at the first year
Well that year went really fast. The first semester was about hospitality and personally I liked that the most, because I like the interaction with people. The first project became even more interesting when we got to do surveys and interviews. I had the feeling that the ‘real’ studies started in the second semester when we got more subjects, like 3 different classes for 1 test and the professional skills. I mentioned above that talking in English is challenging, this has gotten easier but really expressing my feeling is still hard sometimes. I look back at a good year and I am looking forward to see what the rest of the years will bring.