Laura is thriving in chemistry and seizing all of the learning opportunities at HZ
She thinks it’s funny how most people have an image of explosions and white coats when thinking of chemistry. To be honest, she might have had that same image in mind when she was younger. One thing is for sure: back in her home country Romania, Laura has always been interested in chemistry. Once studying at the HZ, she learned all about its many possibilities. She found out that chemistry can be applied in so many fields of work and that in the end it’s always about helping people. Now that she graduated, her chemistry journey has only just begun. And she couldn't have had a better kick-start than at HZ.
Laura and HZ are a perfect match
It was clear from the beginning that Laura was looking for an English chemistry study abroad. She heard that The Netherlands is great because of its high quality of education in general. Once she found out that chemistry was offered in English at HZ, she was convinced. According to Laura the close-knit international HZ community makes it easy to connect with students from all corners of the world. “I have made inspiring connections and friendships for life!” Laura says. She mentions that the atmosphere at HZ is really positive. Everyone turned out to be friendly and helpful, both staff and students alike. “For the first two and a half years I lived in Vlissingen. Finding a place to live was actually super easy thanks to the help of HZ. Their personal support is amazing.”
Seizing opportunities at HZ
All programmes at HZ are made with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) in mind. These SDG’s are composed by the UN and are guidelines for a sustainable world in which we make better use of scarce resources. Laura: “As a student at HZ there is zero chance that you haven't heard of “the goals”. They are presented all around the university of applied science. We discuss them during lectures and students talk about them constantly.” These goals are also to be found in the Analytical Sciences Talent Programme (ASTP). This is an extra three year programme for ambitious students that want to learn even more. Laura participated in it via HZ, which gave her a lot of extra opportunities to get in touch and collaborate with prestigious companies. “I heard through the ASTP that a multinational energy company was looking for a new intern. I was immediately interested and I knew that I could really make a great impact there. My supervisor helped me with the right contacts and next thing I knew, I was their new intern!”
Making an actual change
In her third year, she and her fellow students chose their specialisation, which would be either Life Sciences or Applied Chemistry. Life Sciences is all about understanding human diseases at the level of cells and their molecules, in order to develop new drugs, vaccines and other treatments. “Interesting and very relevant these days, but it was very clear to me that the Applied Chemistry track was the right one for me. Through this way of practice-oriented research HZ gives students the opportunity to experience the real world. It’s about using the analytical techniques which we were taught in the first and second year, to answer actual research questions.”. She continued her internship at the same energy company to put everything to practice. “During both my internships I focused on one project and I’m still working on it as we speak. I am working on a research project that focuses on new types of plastic to replace the harmful ones like the infamous micro plastics. For example, we are investigating taking CO2 emission and actually turning it into a kind of plastic that is not harmful for the environment. This way you could even gradually decrease the level of CO2.”
Following her own path
Laura is currently living in Amsterdam, where she moved to because of her internship and work at the large energy company she mentioned before. After graduating from HZ she will continue on the chemistry path by starting a master's programme. “I could imagine going back to Romania eventually, to implement my knowledge there”, Laura says. But for now, Laura still sees a lot of learning opportunities in chemistry. Laura: “One thing is for sure; I will always be grateful for my time at HZ.”
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