“Having different business and culture representatives in the class enhances your personal growth”

At MSM we welcome talented students from many different countries around the world to strengthen their management knowledge and skills, and to show them the benefit of studying in Holland. In this, Nuffic, the Dutch organization for internationalization in Education, is an important partner in providing various forms of support, including the Orange Tulip Scholarship program to attract students from abroad. Also this year MSM is proud to have so many international talented students in our programs. One of them is Alsu Nurieva from Russia who is currently following the MBA at MSM. Let us briefly introduce you to her:

Why did you choose to study in the Netherlands?
Last year I visited the Netherlands for the first time in my life and was captured by the creative atmosphere here. It didn’t take me long to choose the country it happened organically. I felt that people here are open to everything new, including innovative solutions which drive the development.

Why did you choose MSM?
MSM is one the most international schools in the Netherlands. I think that this was the key factor directing my decision. Having different business and culture representatives in the class enhances your opportunities for personal growth and extremely increases your network. The Mentorship program offered by the school draw my attention as well.

What was your first reaction when you heard you were one of the talented students who were accepted for the Orange Tulip Scholarship Program?
Frankly speaking, when I got the e-mail, I could not believe that it was happening for real. And then I realized that actually I could make it real.

What do you think about the program so far?
The program is quite intensive and really interesting. The education system here absolutely differs from the system in my country and I am learning plenty of new things. Here it is more about interaction, putting the ideas and theories into practice, practicing team work and working at presentations.

How do you experience your life as an international student in Maastricht so far?
I enjoy my life here. Maastricht is a wonderful city. It is small but at the same time it has everything that is needed – public cultural spaces, libraries, parks, different communities, cinemas, shopping malls, cafes, pubs etc. In other words, if you have free time, you will definitely find an activity.

How do you spend your free time in the Netherlands/Maastricht?
I like walking to the “Sint Pietersberg”, the city center or going to neighborhood cities with my friends. Maastricht is situated in the cross border region of the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. There are a lot of travel possibilities which give you easy and fast access to the other countries.

What are the main cultural differences between The Netherlands and Russia?
It is hard to define objectively, probably I need to run a research to be more reasonable.
From my experience I noticed that Dutch people are more organized and practical than Russians, more precise in time-management and more individual in terms of relations.

What’s your dream for the future?
My dream is to develop and implement innovative projects which are valuable not only economically, but also environmentally, socially and culturally.