After three and a half years it is time to start graduating. You will do your graduation assignment based on the study that you have chosen in the first year. This means that students who chose to do Tourism that they will write a thesis and defend it. Leisure students will do a graduation assignment for a company and defend their personal development during a competency exam. This blog is written to give you some insights in the graduation process. Get ready, it’s going to be a rollercoaster of emotions!
Getting started
If you think that finding a company is the first step, well think again! The first step of graduating is finding a subject which you find interesting. A boring subject will make it easier to lose your focus. After you have selected a subject, it is time to search for a company. The sooner you find a company, the better. For Tourism students this is different, they do not need to have a company in order to graduate. The next step is setting up a plan: what are you going to do and how are you going to do it! Tip: follow that plan.
Working on the assignment
And then the gradation phase starts. After you have received a go for your plan, it is time to work on your assignment. Stay focused and follow your plan. Make sure you keep in contact with your coach, he or she can help you a lot. And then the rollercoaster of emotions starts. First you feel great, because you are thinking you are doing a good job. Then you feel insecure because you start doubting if you do everything okay. And then, all of a sudden, it is time for your first feedback moment. Nights without sleep and being worried about the result. The result: a lot needs to be rewritten. And then it is time for your best friend: stress! You start rewriting and you start feeling good again. The rollercoaster of emotions has entered the station again… Oh wait, another round!
Almost done
You thought that you became an emotional wreck? You’re not done yet. You can see the finish line, but there are some hurdles coming up. As said before, the Leisure students need to do a competency exam. This exam takes place before you hand in your graduation assignment. During this exam you do a presentation in which you explain your personal development. You do this based on the leisure management competencies. The presentation itself must be meaningful as well, another puzzle that needs to be solved. Oh wait, I forgot something… Before you do you presentation you must write a vision article and a personal evaluation. These will be used during the forty minute conversation in which three assessors can ask you questions about your personal development.
Handing in
And then finally, it is time to hand in your assignment or thesis. I’m going to hand in my assignment on the 29th of September. But I already want to thank some people and companies.
First I want to thank Selecta for their coffee at the NHTV (believe me, you need it!). However, sometimes I needed a little bit more caffeine. So I also want to thank RedBull in all of its flavors. I also want to thank Amber (she is also part of the Discover ATPM team) for her support throughout the many hours that we’ve spend at the NHTV.