The learning curve

I am a firm believer that we are all just students here in the classroom of life. Everything from actually being in school, to learning to use the public transport or communicating with another human being, all is just a study. Like with any course, the more you do it, the better you get at it.

For me, coming to the Netherlands has been somewhat a peak in this curve. It has given me the opportunity to ground myself and to learn so much about who I am and what I would like to be. Both on a personal and professional level, the Dutch culture has repeatedly taken me out of my comfort zone as it may have with so many others like who travelled across the globe to be here. 

But today, sitting on the other side of a degree, in my comfortable office job, observing carnaval from a distance, I cannot even fanthom just how much cultural integration has helped. The extent to which every organization, every friend, every stranger I have come in contact with here has left an impression or influence that I still carry around. It has shaped me, prepared me for my own future.

Learning may have started for me at my study Mechatronics. But it definitely did not stop there. My learning curve was a steep hill climb with these beautiful vantage points along the way in the disguise of my deepest connections. My learning curve post school, while it's just starting, is less daunting to me now. Because I know in my heart how beautiful the top of that hill will look in this largely flat country.

Rina Manjrekar (22) is a former student Mechatronics at Fontys School of Engineering. After graduating cum laude last summer, she now tries to find her way in the 'real' world. Here you can find her earlier columns for Bron.