“Hi everyone, my name is Mireille van Berkum. Until now, my internship has been a crazy rollercoaster ride. Maybe that sounds a little bit cliché, however the first weeks of my internship was not what I had expected. Six weeks into my internship at Beekse Bergen, I had to stop due to unfortunate events. This resulted into finding myself a new internship. During this period of time, I had a lot of coaching, support and advice from the NHTV and my family. I am very glad that there are other options when things do not go as planned. The supervisor from NHTV and Coen Bertens (Operational Director of the Efteling) helped me to find a new internship and with succes! I have been accepted as intern assistant manager Merchandise at the Efteling!  I am already in my second week and it felt like I have started yesterday. As they say: time flies when you are having fun.This new internship feels like another rollercoaster ride, however, this one runs more smooth and I know which way I am going. When school starts in September, I have to continue my internship. I will work in the weekends at my internship until the beginning of October. Unfortunately, it is not the best situation but it is better than having a study delay.

Besides the daily tasks I do, there are certain aspects that make my internship more exciting. I am a mystery guest 8 hours a day, especially during Belgian holidays. This is the best part of my internship. Observing, questioning and making notes are the most important tasks while being a mystery guest. I do this as a part of my research for the professional product that we need to deliver during our internships. For my professional product I will investigate the Belgian guest experience in Merchandise. I like doing this research because it is interesting to know. Furthermore, I am taking part in a work group that has a meeting once a week. In these meetings there are several professionals who discuss about certain problems in the park. The aim of these meetings is to improve specific issues. During those meetings I make the minutes, which I send to the participants afterwards.

I hope this text gave you an overall image about how things can go when you are in the Attractions and Theme Parks Management program. Hopefully, it gave you a push to sign up! Nevertheless, I am looking forward to the weeks that are yet to come.”