Personal Experience - Evy Siemerink

Evy Siemerink, who is currently pursuing her Master's degree in Business Administration in Enschede, participated in the Honours Programme at the Nijmegen School of Management in the third year of her Bachelor’s programme of International Business Administration at Radboud University. Her individual project, which she carried out in Moscow, recently culminated in the documentary A Question of Survival.

Evy chose her degree programme three years ago because she was excited about the many international opportunities it provided and its excellent contact with companies. "In the programme, I participated in group activities on a range of interesting topics. But I'd never set up an individual project and it seemed like a fun challenge to create something entirely on my own. The Honours Programme II at the Nijmegen School of Management gave me the opportunity to do just that." She decided to spend six months in Moscow in her third year and wanted to combine this with her Honours project. "Moscow wasn't the most obvious choice; when it comes to Russia, everyone seems to have an opinion. But I wanted to know whether these prejudices were true, so I chose a relevant issue that I could discuss with the locals and focused on the trade sanctions imposed on the country. I wanted to find out what effect they had on the local level."

"It was a unique experience: nothing was what I expected. I interviewed several companies and even visited the Dutch embassy. Everyone was very friendly and I got the distinct impression that people wanted to share their stories openly and honestly, even if the subject was rather sensitive." Evy eventually turned her experiences and the information she gleaned into a coherent story and an accompanying documentary created from footage she took in Russia. "The Honours Programme gave me the opportunity to make this documentary – something I otherwise wouldn't have done but managed to do with the help of others. It also sparked my interest in Russia. I would do it all again in a heartbeat!"