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Master in Management students start their one-year journey at MSM

19-10-2020

On 5 October 2020, we were happy to welcome a new group of Master in Management students at the campus of Maastricht to dive into the world of business and management. With 14 nationalities represented in a group of 16 participants, the diversity in the classroom will surely contribute to the learning experience.

Most students were checking in at the MSM campus, while a few still had to fulfill their mandatory quarantine, like Emre Enginovich Yarligan: “Due to the current situation of 2020, I had to attend the classes through Zoom. However, the circumstances did not put a barrier between MSM and me. MSM was ready and set with its technical equipment, which allowed me to interact with my professors and even other students during breaks.” Thomas Schreiber agrees: “I think that the school impressively managed the Introduction week for students like me who were in quarantine. I could attend all the events from my home with zoom and received all the information needed. I am really grateful that MSM did all this.”

Getting to know each other during the Introduction Week
The one-year Master in Management journey kicked off with the introduction week during which the students could enjoy several workshops to fully prepare them for the upcoming year.

“The introduction week was unusual because of the 1.5 meter rule, restricting human contact. However, the workshops were adapted taking this into consideration. The workshops helped us to get to know each other better as classmates and gave us some insight into what to expect from the program and how to manage the various curricular and extracurricular activities scheduled for us,” says Olivia Bulyaba Kawuma.

Ritu Sen found the introduction week memorable: “I got an opportunity to connect with people from different backgrounds and nations. Apart from this, all the sessions where the focus was on personal and professional development were amazing.”

Laura Sesma also enjoyed the introduction week: “I had an extremely positive experience during the introduction week. The introduction speeches from MSM staff were so encouraging and I felt really comfortable and motivated to be part of this new environment. In addition, the courses we had were very useful and practical. This is usually not what students learn at university but in my opinion, this is highly important for real life.
If I had to choose one workshop that I liked the most I would say Improvisation skills. Firstly because it was a complete new activity for me. Secondly, with ‘funny’ activities I actually learned how to manage unexpected questions or situations in real business life. It was easy to extrapolate those activities to formal situations we may encounter. Finally, I find it extremely important because we did not only learn the way to express ourselves, but also how to react to others’ ideas, opinions and proposals.”

Tumaini Mkoko thought that all workshops were useful during the introduction week, but enjoyed two workshops in particular: “The Career Services and Presentation skills workshop was a useful workshop as it prepared me for different academic presentations here at MSM as well as in my future career. I am looking forward to more presentation skills workshops. I also enjoyed the workshop ‘Team Development in a Multicultural Environment’. People in organizations are of different backgrounds, ages, genders and so forth, so as a management student I think this was a really crucial workshop.”

Olivia mostly enjoyed the time and stress management workshop: “Personally, I was feeling overwhelmed by all the information we were receiving from the different lecturers and I found the tips we got during that session very helpful. I intend to continuously apply them throughout the program to keep up with the work demands.”

Start of the academic program
On 12 October, the academic courses started with the course Economics for Managers, taught by Professor Aad van Mourik. “I can tell that Prof. Van Mourik actually enjoys teaching and he is interested in us. In addition, he uses vocabulary and practical examples that we can all understand despite not coming from an economical background. The videos he recommended us to watch before the starting of the classes were very helpful for me,” according Laura Sesma.

Tumaini agrees: “Prof. Van Mourik's class has been great, I do not have a very good background in economics but I am able to understand. He teaches really well, the examples given help me to understand the concepts in a more practical manner.” This is also how Olivia feels: “Prof. Van Mourik makes Economics much more understandable by relating economic concepts to real life examples. His wealth of personal and professional experience creates an interesting and informative atmosphere in the classroom.” Emre says that he is grateful to be one of his students: “Prof. Van Mourik is a catalyst to my interest in economics. A phenomenal character with experience worth of 10 lives combined and he is not keeping himself aside from sharing it with his students.”

Expectations for the coming year
The students set high expectations for the coming year, not only for what they would like to achieve but also for what they expect from the program. “Through my experience in academia, I feel there is often a disconnect from what we learn in class to the real life aspect. There is always a way everything should work in theory or by the books, however my expectation for this coming year is to learn and understand the real life application aspect of business management.” says Laura Geven.

Tumaini is looking forward to a really busy and productive year ahead: “I am expecting to learn not only from the professors but from my colleagues as well. At the end of the program, I expect to be more conversant with both the practical and theoretical aspects of management. I am also hoping to learn Dutch and explore the city of Maastricht. That's of course if there will be time.”

Laura Sesma expects that the Master of Management will provide her with a broader insight into management, but there is more: “I am looking forward to studying in this international environment which I think will provide me also a lot of positive things and ideas for solving problems from different perspectives.”
With students coming from Belgium, Brazil, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Spain, Sudan, Tanzania, The Netherlands, Turkey, Uganda and Ukraine this might work out well.

Ritu’s expectations are to understand the theory well and to be able to apply it practically: “I want to develop myself in the areas in which I lack behind and working with such international group helps a lot.”

Do you want to be part of such a diverse and enriching learning environment?
Then apply now and join the January intake of the Master in Management program. You will join a diverse group of talented and motivated fellow students. In the words of Emre: “The Master in Management students are here to learn and reach their passionate goals, which was obvious after everyone introduced themselves. This makes the environment professional and fun like nowhere else.”

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Master in Management improvisation skills workshop