[mks_dropcap style=”letter” size=”48″ bg_color=”#ffffff” txt_color=”#000000″]F[/mks_dropcap]or this year’s last backstage interview, we sat down with a first-year communication science student Ada. We talked about her choice to move to Amsterdam, to study communication science at UvA and finally, her experience being part of Medium.
Student of Amsterdam
Ada was born and raised in Milan, Italy. That is where she finished her primary education and started high school. Then, she got an opportunity to participate in a private exchange programme which enabled her to come to the Netherlands for the first time. “When I was sixteen, I did a year exchange in a small city in the east of the Netherlands.” During her that time, Ada also started learning Dutch but she felt her language skills were not adequate to finish her studies in the Netherlands: “I did a year of high school here, then went back and graduated high school in Milan because my Dutch was not good enough.” After she graduated high school and needed to decide where to pursue higher education, the choice was simple: “I wanted to come back to the Netherlands, I just like it here! It feels like home in a way.” She chose Amsterdam because she wanted to be in a bigger city. “For my exchange, I was in a very small village. For example, I was the only international person there, it was that small so I definitely like Amsterdam more,” she said laughingly.
Communication Science
When Ada first came to study at UvA last year, she first enrolled in the Political Science Bachelor’s but decided the programme was not the right fit for her. “It was really not for me, there was a lot of nation-related and macro information I did not care about that much.” After one year of political science, she decided to switch to communication science which seem to be a better fit. “I like the programme. A lot of the stuff we’ve done so far has been quite broad but the topics we focus on are definitely more interesting than what we did in political science.” She is still undecided when it comes to choosing a specialisation. “It is hard to tell because a lot of them we haven’t done yet but they all sound pretty interesting now.” Ada is keeping her options open but she is clear on the one thing that is definitely not for her as she simply put it: “I don’t like corporate!”.
“I heard about Medium during the introduction day
Medium
Ada started writing last year for De Derde Dinsdag, when she was part of the political science student association Machiavelli. “I guest-wrote a little bit for the Machiavelli newspaper and really enjoyed it!” That is why when she heard about Medium, she wanted to join. “I heard about Medium during the introduction day and then later on, when I heard about they were looking for people, I applied.” What she likes most about working in Medium was the freedom the writers have when it comes to choosing their topics, especially since she doesn’t have a specific subject she prefers to write about. “Sometimes I write about entertainment, sometimes I write about political stuff. It’s always one specific but within a variety of broader topics. I think the topics of my articles were things I already wanted to write about and Medium was great because it gave me a platform to express my very specific thoughts on this thing that nobody cares about,” she said with laughter. “It is a hit or miss whether it will be interesting to others.” Ada is taking a little break from writing right now but she is considering to start again next year, and we hope she does!
Final Editor: Mana Reed Stutchbury
Image: by Mana Reed Stutchbury
