Joseph Williams (20), South Africa
17 Mar 2011
Bachelor's in International Communication and Media, Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen
Groningen is a vibrant and lively city, full of interesting and fun things to see and do. One of my favourite things is that it has many good shops and markets to do shopping on a Saturday afternoon, and activities such as walking and cycling, especially during the autumn season in the Noorde Plantsoen as it is called in Dutch, horse riding, fishing and water sports during the summer.
One of my many reasons for choosing Groningen as a place and city to study was that the Hanze University had a great course in Communications and Media study, and the entire study programme is taught in English. I find the level, the system and also the curriculum very well organized, and I love the fact that we have the Honour’s Programme, which was introduced to our study last year. The mere fact hat it has these ten books that we read and thereafter make an oral presentation about our findings is very thought-provoking and incredibly insightful.
The radio programme project
Currently, I am involved in a radio-based project, which was initiated by one of my teachers at the Hanze University, at the city’s local radio station, Oog Radio. The project is called ‘The HappyHourFm Show’ (on local airwaves at 106.6FM, at 105.5 on cable, or via live streaming at www.happyhourfm.nl) for which I am one of the presenters/reporters and music directors. This project is extremely interesting. This all-English radio programme is intended for all international students living here in Groningen. Its purpose is to communicate and provide information to students and non-Dutch residents about life in Groningen.
It is also about performing and providing a little entertainment on the side and communicating to the public. The thing I love most about this project is that it is fun and very exciting indeed to be working with students from different cultural backgrounds than my own. I see it as a guiding experience, as to how other cultures and people in those particular cultures behave.
The fact that I am working in an international project group is extremely rewarding. I have come to learn how to identify cultural relativism, cultural identity and I now have an understanding of cultural diversity and a better awareness of other cultures and their communicative styles. Acquiring this knowledge is certainly making my study even more interesting and insightful. My study also brings me into contact with many people and that is what I like, because this helps me to put into practice what I learn at school.
