Hailing from the United States, I am often asked why I came to the University of Twente. After all, one says, the USA has many schools for engineering (I study in the EL faculty), so why would I need to come to The Netherlands to study?
Usually, I give the stock response I have given since I first arrived: I wanted to live outside of my own country for a while, and in Enschede there is an excellent university where I would be able to meet many Dutch and foreign students. My answer still applies, but it is a very general answer, and not what I feel now. Looking back, it's the little impressions I've kept with me that have helped me to see things more clearly. Among them, I have learned...
That students are students everywhere, and the student lifestyle is great.
That wherever you go in the world, chances are you will find people like you, except with a different accent.
That food out of a wall is very, very good, especially late at night. That to truly experience a culture, you really need to learn the language, even if it is not necessary to your survival there. That staying up until the wee hours in the morning discussing everything from politics to animal sounds in different languages (yes, it happened!) with people from differing cultures may be as valuable a lesson as any class could provide.
That bikes are infuriating, constant rain is depressing, being on time is difficult, and that when I am gone, I will long for my bike (ok, my many bikes) and the rain and my agenda.
I guess I wasn't exactly sure why I was coming to the UT, because I just didnÆt know what I would learn when I got here. But I do know that studying here was the greatest choice I could have ever made. If someone were to ask me now why I came here, I would respond, without hesitation, that I came to the University of Twente to become a better person in ways that would not have been possible at home, and that I didnÆt realize this until I had been here for a long time.
