From September 2024 until January 2025 I studied at the Hogeschool Utrecht in the minor “Internationalize your classroom” and want to share my experience in this report.

I arrived at my housing at the end of August and to be honest, the first day was really hard. I saw my accommodation for the first time, which was how you expect a student housing to be, and got to know so many people at once, which made me feel overwhelmed and homesick. Surprisingly, after getting to know my roommates in the local bar the same evening, these feelings were replaced by excitement and happiness within a few hours.

The next day, my semester started with a Welcome Day at the Hogeschool. We were surprised with a warm welcome, where we first got stroopwafels, typical Dutch sweets, and coffee or tea. They let us know all the important information about our stay on that day. Afterwards, I went to an event from ESN in which they prepared a quiz about the Netherlands (just for the record – I won!). I recommend visiting ESN events or events from other student organizations, as you meet a lot of new people while doing fun activities.

This start and the warm summer weather made the next weeks feel like a holiday. I had lots of leisure time for the first two months, which enabled me to settle in and travel. I loved to explore Utrecht, which is a stunningly beautiful city and participated in many fun events. Utrecht has many corners filled with amazing cafés, tiny old bars and lots of little shops. Next to enjoying all of this, I had courses about Global Citizenship and learned a lot about cultures, their differences and why multiculturalism is so valuable. Learning about these things while being around and working together with different cultures made me not only learn theories but also recognized new knowledge in practice.

After a while, friends groups developed naturally, and I got to be friends with the most amazing people. In the Christmas break I even took my best friend (she was also my roommate) home with me, introduced her to my family and showed her my hometown.

Life on campus was really convenient, there were two huge, beautiful libraries and many places to get lunch or dinner. I also signed up at the Olympos sport centre, in which you can take part in group lessons (highly recommend Yoga with Jane) or go to the gym as often as you want for only 20€ per month. And, most importantly, the student life was everything I wished for. With about 7 bars on campus, where beer was cheaper than water, combined with all my friends being neighbours, there was something going on every single night.

Starting with my internship in November my leisure time decreased, but with that, my teaching skills improved day by day. Their whole approach on teaching was different from what I´m used to and I could learn a lot for my future career. The atmosphere of the schools was welcoming, and I bonded quickly with my students. This whole internship taught me more than many courses in my study did before, and I can only recommend doing an internship abroad.

Now that my semester abroad is over, I am feeling quite sad about it and miss the friends that I made as well as beautiful Utrecht itself. On the other hand, I am excited to meet my friends in their home countries and also show them Austria soon. All in all, I cannot recommend going abroad enough! I was surprised by how quickly I felt at home in this new city and how deeply I connected with new friends. Not only did I become a better teacher, but I can tell that I developed quite a bit personally and feel more confident in new situations. You truly meet friends for life and make memories you will remember forever. I am forever grateful for this experience and can´t wait for my next time abroad!