Why did you decide to do a Master's after your HBO?
After my English teacher training, I started a (pre-)Master's programme because after working as a teacher for a while, I missed studying. I also wanted to expand my options by obtaining a Master's degree and thus being able to teach at more different educational institutions. I also wanted to gain more knowledge about designing teaching materials and good tests.
How do you feel about the transition from HBO to a research university?
The transition from HBO to a university was not an easy one for me. The differences that struck me the most were those of the study advisor and contact hours. You now had a study advisor instead of an 'SLB'er'. However, you always had to make an appointment yourself and prepare these appointments well so that you had specific questions. The division between lectures and worklectures was also new. At my HBO education we always had classroom lessons with many contact hours. Studying at a university is a lot more individual and you are responsible for how you plan your time. If you have a lecture on Monday afternoon, you can choose to do all the preparation on the same morning, but you can also spread it out and do it in the week before. I don't recommend going to a lecture unprepared, that will only cause confusion and more work afterwards. You are responsible for collaboration yourself, I personally really enjoyed going to the university library with fellow students and studying together.
How do you experience the level of the pre-Master's?
The pre-Master's was mostly a lot of work. I was a bit nervous about the level of the teaching material, but this was doable. You take courses from different years of the Bachelor's programme. These can therefore be courses from the third year, but also from the first year. This often overlaps a lot with knowledge you acquired during your HBO bachelor's degree or internship. However, the pace was faster and there was more work pressure in this way. I myself had time for a part-time job, but no more than two days a week. And even then I still got tangled up with time. Still, my message is: if you work hard, you don't have to doubt yourself. You can handle it!
What appeals to you most about the university and why?
What appeals to me about the university is that you are given the opportunity to (partly) compose your own programme and that you can therefore fully develop. All kinds of activities are also organized outside your lectures and there is always something to do. I always enjoy being on campus.
Which Master's will you follow after the pre-Master's? And what do you want to do with that Master's degree?
At the moment I am following the Master's Language and Communication Coaching. This name has now been changed to Language Variation and Multilingualism. I would like to work with a combination of developing teaching materials and teaching.