Liberty Cooper, Plus3 The Netherlands Summer 2024
When it comes to Plus3, the location you choose not only determines what kind of sights you’ll see and languages you’ll hear but also the businesses you’ll visit and the content you learn. My first piece of advice: pick the location and topic that interests you the most. I went to the Netherlands partly because I’ve always wanted to visit Amsterdam but mostly because the main focus of that trip is sustainability, which is very interesting to me. Every company that we visited prioritizes sustainable business practices and highlighted them in detail during their presentations. I enjoyed hearing about that as it is something I hope to incorporate into my future as a professional. However, if you aren’t as interested in sustainability in business, the Netherlands may not be the Plus3 location for you. I have another friend from the business school who did the Plus3 program in Argentina, which focuses on healthcare. She is interested in pursuing a certificate in global health, so that was the perfect trip for her. Both of us started our programs not knowing anyone on our trips very well, but we both had great experiences and made lots of new friends! Therefore, I would definitely recommend choosing the location that has the topic that interests you the most. You actually will focus on your topic for a large portion of the program, so make sure it is something that you would like to learn more about.
The pictures below show the Floating Farm, which is one of the companies we visited in Rotterdam. They gave us a presentation that highlighted all of the ways they prioritize sustainability as a business. I thought it was really cool and informative, but perhaps not everyone would agree.
My other major piece of advice would be to research your location before you go. Of course, you will need to know the basics: the currency, the time difference, whether or not you’ll need an outlet converter, and other simple cultural differences. I would recommend going further and researching things to do around your hotel. Because Plus3 is only 2 weeks long, you will do at least one or two cultural or business visits every day. As a result, your free time will be relatively limited. You’ll probably only have a couple of hours each day, so make the most of it! I made a list of places to visit in Amsterdam and Rotterdam (the 2 cities I visited), but I did not consider where those places were in relation to my hotel. I ended up wasting some precious time trying to decide what we could do that was easy to get to by foot or public transportation. Therefore, I would recommend figuring out where you will be staying and making a list of things you would like to do that are near your hotel. Make the most of your time there and have fun!!
One day when we had some more free time than usual, we went to the Rijksmuseum, as you can see in the picture below.
Leave a Reply