My Third Year - Reflections

In September 2017, I continued studying. This time it was much easier because I was already used to the life of a university student. Besides my study, I also participated in a Surinamese student association, Surinamese Students Abroad (SSA), where I gained a lot of great experience and skills such as time management, working in teams, organizing events, activities, gaining social and communication skills. During this great year in the organization, I also expanded my network.

When I was much younger I always dreamt of studying abroad and living in the Netherlands or the United States of America. The reason why I chose the Netherlands was that it would be much easier in the beginning to adapt. This, due to a lot of my family members already living in the Netherlands. I really dreamt of living in Amsterdam, the capital city of the Netherlands. I turned my dream into reality.

In January 2017, I moved on my own to campus Uilenstede in Amstelveen, near Amsterdam. It was nice living in Uilenstede. I had my own room and bathroom, but I had to share my kitchen which was very tricky. Imagine, nobody is as clean as you. It was a huge struggle. On the other hand, it was an exact student life like many students describe – a lot of partying, which is not my way of living the student life. My description of a student life is going to the university, studying, expanding my network, developing myself and party just once or twice a month. I knew I could not live there permanently, because of the crowd and the living conditions. I started to look for a new place to live in. Exactly a year later, in January 2018, I found another place, also in Amsterdam. Luckily, I have everything for myself and I am able to live my student life the way I dreamt of.

I have failed a lot in life. But whatever it takes, I will always stay committed until I have achieved my goals. We all need to fail sometimes because failure leads to success. Embrace it. As long as it teaches you the most important things in life, such as values. I am not perfect. You are not perfect. Nobody is. Something my former physics teacher from AlphaMax Academy, Mr. Emile Krak, always taught me was: “Without effort and hard work you won’t accomplish your goals.”

I can do it and I will do it – for myself and for my own future. Nobody is going to do it for me. I do not want to depend on my parents, family and in the future, my husband. I want to be a completely independent woman who acknowledges the meaning of ‘hard-working’ because she did it to achieve her goals. It does not matter how many times I fail I will always keep moving forward. In the future, I want to be a role model for the young ladies around us and especially for my own children. Besides a role model, I want to be one of the people who has contributed to change the world.