Welcoming experiences summer 2021

Over the summer we ask our new international students if they would like the opportunity to chat with an (international) alum. The students can say whether they would like to speak with an alum who used to study the programme they are about to start and/or are from the same nationality. We search for a match among the many graduates of the university. When an alum is happy to participate we connect them with the student via email. Together they arrange a date and time for their conversation. These conversations mainly take place online.

As an alum I want to give back to the university and help out when I can.

Every year more students sign-up, and the number of alumni who support the Utrecht University community with these student-alumni matches is growing ever more. We asked two alumni who participated in the 2021 programme to share their experiences:

• Johanna (Public International Law LLM, 2017)
• Surabhi (Artificial Intelligence, 2019)

For both Johanna and Surabhi this was the firs time they were matched with a student. Johanna was previously active as an alum in career talks. She says: “As an alumna I want to give back to the university and help out when I can. It was also exciting to be paired with John who is also Swedish and embarking on the same course I studied!” Surabhi mentions that she can relate to the new students and wants to help:"When I came to the Netherlands, the most exciting and different thing that I experienced here was the style of education and more than anything I wanted to share my experiences so that international students coming to study here can get themselves easily acquainted to it."  

Johanna was matched with John, he is from the same country ánd is also going to study Public International Law. She says that talking to John also gave her new insights: “I learned more about how the PIL programme at Utrecht has developed since I did the course. (…) I was also interested to hear that the course has a continued a strong focus on sustainability, which is something I am very involved in at my current job.” 
Surabhi felt connected to to new UU student Sarthak: "I really enjoyed seeing Sarthak's enthusiasm and curiosity during our conversation. It reminded me of myself and all the questions and inquisitiveness that I had when coming to the university for the first time."

After participating in volunteering opportunities within the UU community, alumni often mention how much they appreciate these opportunities. For Johanna and Surabhi it is a great way to stay connected to UU. They enjoy knowing that their contribution can be useful and it is fun to bring back good memories of Utrecht and UU.

Curious how the students appreciate this programme? John said he saw it as a great opportunity to hear 'a second opinion' from an alumn about the programme he is about to start and was happy to already find out what kind of career paths there are once he graduates. "It is more than worth it, and If nothing else you get to meet an interesting alumni who will be more than happy to chat with you."

“Do not underestimate the value you can bring to a current student”