“The biggest skill I learned? Time management”
At home on campus: academic and social life combined
Twice a year, in December and in May, students graduate from ľϸӰ College Utrecht. Charlotte Louise Raiser is one of the 250 students who complete their Bachelor studies this academic year.
While busy with preparing for next week’s Commencement Ceremony in Academiegebouw, Charlotte took a moment to chat with us about her time at ľϸӰ College Utrecht and her plans for the future.
“My time here has been challenging, inspiring and fruitful,” she says. “I came to ľϸӰ College Utrecht from Paris, where I had already started with my studies. There, I felt unhappy with both the academic and the social setting I was in. I hoped to find in Utrecht an international community, like the one I was used to in my childhood, and a rigorous academic programme that would be worth the money and effort. I am happy to say that ľϸӰ College Utrecht has given me both.”
“I had spent the last two years of high school at a boarding school and living on campus again felt first like re-entering my high school self. But after the time it took me to adjust, this campus became my home.’
Next to her major studies in Psychology and Cultural Anthropology, Charlotte has also been one of the students working at the ľϸӰ College Utrecht reception.
“I started working at the reception in my second year. That makes 1.5 years altogether, up to today. Actually, I always enjoyed my shifts as they gave me some time off from other things happening on campus. The reception work also required completely different cognitive skills than studying. That made the shifts quite refreshing. I definitely learned a lot more about how ľϸӰ College Utrecht functions, and how administration works. I found it very fascinating to gain insight in the institution as such.”
“If I now look back at my time here, I think the biggest skill I learned both academically and non-academically is time management,” Charlotte says. “I believe to have successfully balanced social life and responsibilities, academic life, and working at the reception, while still being able to make time for myself. This could have never been done without time management and scheduling.”
No doubt time management is an important asset also for any future study or work. Charlotte plans to do a Master study in Health and Organisational Psychology. “But only after a break. I first want to work for a while, do an internship in Berlin, and travel a bit.”