Over and out

This is why I spent my last weeks in Rotterdam vehemently trying to catch up with all the experiences I never had enough time for (because my life wouldn’t be complete if I hadn’t at least once pretended that Holland is a Mediterranean country while bathing in the North Sea). It has worked out: when I was on my way to Prague, I had this pleasant feeling of exhaustion and satisfaction that I’ve managed everything I’ve wanted and that there’s nothing stopping me from closing this life chapter for good. But before I do so, let me at least sum up the events that occurred since my last post here.

The last for months on the Dutch Riviera were (unsurprisingly) devoted mostly to my thesis. I wrote it on the topic of cultural and economic capital of tourists from different countries and the relationship of these factors with the presentation of cultural attractions of particular destinations on social media. To my joy, my approach to this unnecessarily complicated theme was awarded with a grade of 8.5 on a 10-point scale and therefore, I will be graduating cum laude.

I also found some time to develop some not-so-academic skills. Together with three of my classmates, I was selected for an internship at Quadia, a prominent provider of online video streaming services for corporate clients. In response to clients’ demands, the company would like to incorporate support for virtual reality into their platform. Our tasks was to help building a strategy for this new product by the means of extensive market research. Within four weeks, we spoke with major experts on virtual reality, attended several gigs and conventions related to the topic and in the end presented a research report to all the employees of the company. We provided strategic recommendations with regards to possible future approaches towards VR. Aside from the positive feedback we have received, I’m glad for acquiring some practical skills that I’m sure I will utilise in the future.

Well, that’s actually it. These two “projects” together with planning my future kept me busy for most of the time. So, what’s next? Two days after arriving back to Prague, I successfully passed entrance exams for the New Media Studies master’s degree at the Charles University. Hopefully by the end of September I will have completed the last step that’s stopping me from starting this programme – the time- and cost- demanding process of legalisation of my Dutch diploma. Even though there is no point in pretending that the objective quality of education in Czechia is objectively higher than in the Netherlands, there are many pragmatic, but also merely personal reasons why I chose to come back home and not perceive it as a personal loss. I myself am quite curious how I will feel about this decision in half a year, but at this point I think that, considering my plan to stay in the Czech Republic in the future, getting my degree at a Czech university will not only provide me with interesting and hopefully also progressive education, but also some networking opportunities relevant for my future career.

We are slowly reaching the end of this post, so now it’s the right time to show some gratitude. Thank you, people here in the Czech Republic who were still waiting here for me when I came back. Thank you, people who made my stay in the Netherlands illuminating, enriching and fun. However, primarily I would like to thank THE KELLNER FAMILY FOUNDATION, which gave me all the reasons to write this blog. I was given a unique opportunity and I believe that I utilized it as much as possible.