Kiki Koopman

About Kiki

Hi, I am Kiki, 22 years old and a second-year CIS student. I am following the Dutch track within CIS. Besides my studies, I am a member of the student swimming association in Groningen, De Golfbreker, where I have been a member of several committees. I also work at the UMCG, where I am in charge of making the work schedules of several employees.

Why Communication and Information Studies?

Before starting CIS, I studied Movement Sciences for two years, also in Groningen. However, that study was far too mathematical for me, so I decided to quit and do something else. But what? In high school, I always liked English and Dutch and that always went quite easily for me. Since I have an interest in language anyway and the breadth of the programme really appealed to me, I decided to go to an information session of CIS during the open day. There, besides attending the presentation, I also talked briefly with that year's student ambassador. I was worried that the programme would be very focused on marketing and corporate communications, and that didn't suit me. However, she said that this is not the case and that you have a lot of room to put together your own programme, with subjects that interest you. This conversation ultimately made me choose CIS!

Why Groningen?

When I had had my final exams, I decided to do Movement Sciences. This study was only offered in Amsterdam or Groningen, so for me, being from Twente, that choice was made fairly quickly. Whereas I found Amsterdam far too massive, Groningen almost immediately felt like coming home. When I started looking at other studies, I decided to stay in Groningen, because I had already built my life here and I really liked it!

Future

For now, my future plans mainly focus on the next few years. Namely, I would like to go abroad in my third year for my minor, to get a taste of what it is like to live somewhere other than the Netherlands. The breadth of the programme ensures that you can actually get started anywhere, but to gain more experience before I ‘really’ start working, I would be interested in doing a traineeship at, for example, the central government!

Golden Tip

Ask current or former students of the study you are interested in for their experiences! There are people available from every study who can tell you something about their experiences or answer your questions. You can only get so much out of a course catalogue; speaking to someone who has already done it is much more useful.