Alumni Interview with Lisa van Vliet

What inspired you to travel abroad?

When I was looking for my masters I asked myself the question, what did I enjoy most while doing my bachelor’s degree and why? That’s when it struck me, that I enjoyed the most personal and professional growth during my exchange semester. During my bachelor's, I was lucky enough to spend six months abroad and although it was the scariest thing I had ever done. It also was the time during which I made beautiful friendships and got to know myself a lot better. I noticed that putting myself outside of my comfort zone had brought me a lot of benefits and I wanted to extend this experience by also choosing to do my masters abroad.

Why did you choose the University of Economics, Prague?

While choosing my master’s program, I originally stumbled upon CEMS in my home country: at the Rotterdam School of Management (Netherlands). The program actually had everything I was looking for: management or business courses, a semester abroad, an internship abroad, and all that while giving great importance to the development of soft skills and the integration of corporate partners and thus hands-on experience and exposure to the field. Coming from a very practical study in The Netherlands, I knew that I did not want to spend my entire masters diving into books. I also wanted to work on my personal skills and professional skills by being involved in group activities, business projects with companies, and seminars organized by people from my field. I was looking for inspiring and like-minded people, this is when you develop yourself the most! I chose the University of Economics, Prague, because it was one of the universities in the alliance that could offer me a two-year program (two degrees), high exposure to corporate partners such as Google, Deloitte, and Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, and a highly active CEMS community with one of the best CEMS Clubs in the alliance (student organization organizing all kinds of events and activities). Besides that, Prague is simply enchanting.

What was your favorite part about Prague, Czech Republic?

Prague has become one of my favorite cities in the world! It is small enough to get to know it by heart, and yet big enough to discover new places each weekend. It has made me feel at home, unlike a city like Paris that can sometimes overwhelm you by its size and the tremendous amount of people. The city has something new to offer you each season and most importantly is very affordable compared to other European capitals. Although the language might scare you in the beginning, I never experienced any difficulties getting around. Besides that, there are a lot of opportunities to travel in Czech Republic. Many of which you can do together with your classmates from CEMS or will be organized by your local CEMS club.

What made your experience abroad extraordinary?

Definitely the people I have met along the way! CEMS is a community and it doesn't matter where you go, whether you are on your exchange in Barcelona, your internship in London or writing your thesis in Prague, there's always people around you who are willing to connect with you and grab a coffee at any time! It's a network with many inspiring people. Even now that I'm a full-time employee, I can see the benefits of my involvement in CEMS as both my current managers have studied CEMS (immediate bonding!).

How did the local program staff support you throughout your program?

The University of Economics, Prague, has a CEMS office with a dedicated team to support you throughout your studies. This is very nice as you get to know the team quite well. They will be the ones to get you through the applications, help you while going on your exchange semester and your international internship. I would therefore say that the local staff supported me very well throughout the program, especially when I was doing my internship in London and was having a bit of a difficult time getting along with my manager. You can always ask for a time to stop by if you have any troubles.

What's one thing you wish you would have done differently during your time abroad?

During my second year in Prague, I decided to get a job besides my studies. The first six months I was working part time (20 hours) and the last six months I was working full time (36-40 hours). Looking back on that, I might have wished that I had done that differently. I think I would have told myself not to start working while studying as there is simply plenty of time to work after graduation! Although this did allow me to stay in Prague a little longer than I initially planned - so it wasn't too bad after all.

Describe what a typical day in your life abroad looked like.

No day was the same! It truly depends on your class schedule and whether or not you're in the middle of your exams. 08h - Wake up and eat breakfast with my flatmates. 09h - Walk through the park to the university (I lived six minutes away by foot). 09h-11h - Class and coffee breaks with my classmates. 12h - Lunch at the restaurant near the university. 13h - 17h - Group work at the study café close to Wenceslav Square (Cafedu). 17h-19h - Walk home and go to the gym. 19h - Cook at home. 20h - Go to the city center to meet up with my friends for drinks (Really not that different from a regular day, to be honest. The difference can be felt during the weekend!).

What did you enjoy doing in your free time abroad?

In Barcelona I truly enjoyed going to the beach, either to hangout with friends or to go skating past the boulevard. In London, I enjoyed cycling and finding new places to escape the crows and to read my book. In Prague I absolutely enjoyed going to the different farmers markets, grabbing a coffee at my favorite coffee place right outside my house and to head to Naplavka (riverbank) to cycle. Besides that, there's a lot of cute cities and castles to discover all around the country.

What type of accommodation did you have? What did you like best about it?

I always had shared accommodation. When I arrived in Prague, I just wrote on our local CEMS Facebook group to ask if anyone had a flat available, and this was how I met my flatmate! Kevin (also CEMS student) had a room free in his apartment and I could move in for the semester. We lived with three CEMS students, which was great as we could also study together! In Barcelona, I was living with MBA students from ESADE (my exchange semester) whom I found through the Facebook group as well.

What is one thing every future participant should know about your program before their program begins?

Make time for all the social activities the CEMS Club organizes! It gets tough sometimes. There are a lot of group work and you will need a lot of time to study. However, my memories of my CEMS Program are all from the social events organized by the community. Of course it is a masters and you have to make sure you'll pass, but don't lock yourself up! It is also a time to make meaningful connections with the people around you and the last years before you'll start working full-time.

Would you recommend University of Economics, Prague, to others? Why?

Yes! Simply said, it has been the best two years of my life and I have an internationally recognized degree!

What do you feel is the biggest benefit of traveling abroad?

Putting yourself out of your comfort zone will help you discover the things you like, dislike, your strengths and your weaknesses. Each semester, when you meet new people, you have the possibility to become a better version of yourself.

Now that you're home, how has your time abroad impacted your life?

Actually, I'm not home! I guess that is how it has impacted my life. I'm currently doing an international graduate program with a rotation in Paris. In my final stages of my masters, I got hired to start working for one of the corporate partners of our university: Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield. Here, I'm working alongside many other CEMSies (four from my class alone!) doing three different rotations in three different teams within the company. While doing this, I still have the drive to go abroad and I think that this growth mindset will never leave me.

What does meaningful travel mean to you?

I think that meaningful travel means something different to each single person, as everyone experiences it in their own way. But what does meaningful travel mean to me? Meaningful travel to me means spending time to make meaningful connections with the people around you and getting to know your environment like a local and thus opening your mind to experience life from different points of view. Besides that, you have to realize that you're there for a short amount of time so you have to make sure you are enjoying every single day of the experience!