Thijs completed an internship abroad with the Erasmus+ grant

Interning abroad. Students who do it are so enthusiastic! They often ask, "Why don't more students do this?" Good question! Is it because they don't know it's allowed? Or do they not know any classmates who have been or are going? We thought it would be fun to occasionally feature an interview about a student who has completed an internship abroad. Hopefully, you'll be just as enthusiastic.

When and who gave you the idea to go abroad?

Already in my first year of studies, I learned that an internship abroad was an option in the third year of the program if you were 18 or older. When I heard this, I knew right away that it was something I really wanted to do. 

Was it easy to arrange everything? 

If you're going abroad, you'll choose the International II elective. During this elective, you'll spend six months in your second year preparing for your internship abroad. This means choosing a country, finding an internship placement, housing, and arranging important paperwork for the internship and Erasmus+ grant. You'll have plenty of time for this while you're already at school. You'll also receive excellent guidance from your teachers should you encounter any issues. 

Did you go alone or with others?

I went abroad with two other students. Summa requires you to go with at least one other student. However, I recommend going with at least two people, as it can be quite intensive with just two people. 

Where did you go and when?

I went to Valencia with these two other students, and we had the time of our lives there from September 2nd to December 2nd, 22. The three of us lived in the same apartment and went to the same internship school. 

Can you briefly explain (students don't really like reading ;-)) which internship company you were at and what your tasks were?

For us, that was Shackleton International School. At this school, quite a lot was expected of us, and we quickly received many tasks. These included mentoring students one-on-one, preparing lessons, teaching small groups, teaching the whole class, and also supervising. 

What was really different from the Netherlands?

During my time in Valencia, I naturally noticed a lot of differences between the Netherlands and Spain. For example, the children on internships were always at school from 9:00 AM to 16:30 PM, and there was a break of over an hour and 1 minutes. Outside of my internship, things were also very different. I lived on my own, it was much warmer, a different language was spoken, and I had to arrange a lot of things myself, like renting a bike. 

How did you like being away from home for so long? 

I was away from home for almost four months. It took some getting used to at first, of course, but I quickly found it very enjoyable. Living on your own comes with a lot of responsibility, but also a lot of peace and quiet. Because you can do whatever you want and there's no one telling you what to do (except your housemates ;-)). The closer we got to the end, the more I started to feel that it was nice to be home again. But for me, this never led to any real homesickness.

What do you still think about, what made the biggest impression on you?

I still think back a lot to the weekends we went out together, the three of us, but also to the Christmas drinks at our internship, which were really fun and ended in a club. So, of course, going out was fun, but the whole experience of living on my own, no school, just an internship, exploring a whole city, and the wonderful weather made it truly unforgettable.

Would you recommend an internship abroad to other students?

All in all, I would definitely recommend going abroad, it's a great experience and a unique opportunity and believe me, you won't regret it!

Do you have any further tips?

My tips would be, learn a little of the language before you go, go in groups of three, share your location when you go out!

Thijs, thank you for sharing your experience. And great that you had such a great time.