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Alexandra’s time in Maastricht, thinking back and looking forward!

"Being an international student was definitely a challenge but it also gave me a lot of opportunities to develop myself. I became very open, patient, easily adapting and went out of my comfort zone many times."

Uliana Soldatkina and Alexandra Richter, both fourth year students, talk about Alexandra’s time at HMSM. As an international student from Hungary there were challenges during her study, but mostly opportunities! Her advice: try to look at the positive side of the difficulties you face. As time flies, you want to look back at your experiences with a good feeling!

Meisje met donkerbruin haar en een blauwe jurk
Alexandra Richter

Internship in Dubai

I am Alexandra,  and I am from Budapest, Hungary. I come from quite an international family; I am Hungarian, Russian, German and Dutch. Currently I am doing my final management internship, as a sales and marketing intern at The Ritz-Carlton in Dubai. I was thinking back about my great time in Maastricht, but I am also very much looking forward to what the future will bring. I have been to Dubai for my operational internship, which was cut short due to Covid unfortunately, so returning to this amazing city makes me really excited.

Amazing memories

Being an international student was definitely a challenge but it also gave me a lot of opportunities to develop myself. I became very open, patient, easily adapting and went out of my comfort zone many times. I picked up a lot of Dutch, especially being the only international member of Caves d’Amphitryon. This experience gave me a lot of amazing memories to look back on as well!

Besides great memories, I will take a lot of other aspects with me for the rest of my life from my time at HMSM: the friendships, connections and skills learned through group work especially. Many exciting moments happened while I was on internship and during my exchange which I'll cherish as well.

Graduation project

My graduation project was hospitality related and it was a very interesting challenge. I am happy that I chose the track of Hotel Management as I got to learn a lot about employer branding and how to apply it in a newly opened hotel. It also combined my interest in human resources and marketing. Therefore, it was the perfect fit for me.

Calm and confident

Recently, I successfully defended my thesis. It was a friendly conversation with professionals and lecturers. Me and my group have been working on our project for such a long time, so naturally we knew all about our work. I think it is important to stay calm and confident in what you have completed. Instead of being nervous because of this exam being one of the last ones, put your energy in showing enthusiasm and the knowledge you have about the topics, results, and products!

Future plans

For now, I would like to successfully complete my internship and be an asset to the company where I will work. After that I am open to explore other destinations, also other sectors outside of hospitality, and I would like to find something that I enjoy the most. I love meeting new people from different cultures, so working in a multicultural environment is what I aspire to, no matter where I work. I would like to reach a high position in a multinational company one day with opportunities to keep traveling!

My advice

My advice to future students: enjoy every moment, try to look at the difficulties you face from the positive side. As time flies, you want to look back at the experiences with a good feeling!

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