'The programme has challenged me to grow and develop personally and professionally'

Caroline Kulp is a second year International Communication student. She comes from Hamburg, Germany and chose this study programme to learn more about different cultures and the International Communications field.

'When I started this study programme, I had no clear vision of my future career. This changed when I came to Groningen and learnt more about the International Communications field. The programme has challenged me to grow and develop personally and professionally, which made me feel like suddenly so many doors opened for me. Today, I'm still not sure what the future holds for me and my career, but I am confident in my skills, abilities and strengths as an aspiring communication professional.' 

'In my almost two years at the Hanze, I had the pleasure to work on diverse projects on behalf of interesting clients. The biggest and most rewarding project was a behavioural change campaign with as its target audience the Middle East. Our client wanted to expand her business and client base to Middle Eastern countries. In the beginning this seemed like an impossible job since we had to reach out to people in that region and convince them of our client's product, which they have never heard of before and we had to do all this in Groningen. Little by little we managed to overcome all our struggles, intercultural barriers and the far distance from our target group. By the end of it, we were proud to present the final campaign to our client who was astonished and impressed by our work. This project lasted the entire first semester of the second year and we worked together in an international group of four people, all from different countries, in a truly vivid working environment.'  

'In full disclosure, it can be challenging working with people of different nationalities. We encountered different challenges with the project and also within our group, for example with different views on certain situations. However, I have learnt that once you trust your abilities and your teammates and everyone is willing to put in the time and effort, no challenge is too big. You develop just as much from failure as from success, maybe even more.'