Kaja Warnke

Let us learn more about Kaja in this Alumn interview.

She has supported us in the organization of the 2021 Master Market event and, for this reason, she is telling us a bit about it here.

What do you do now and where?

After graduating from UCG last year, I started a two-year Research Master in Migration, Ethnic Relations and Multiculturalism at Utrecht University.

Which skill(s) you learned as a Liberal Arts and Sciences graduate would you say is the most useful now for your career?

Independent learning, critical thinking and presentation skills – and definitely dealing with a lot of uncertainty without getting completely desperate!

During my time at UCG, I remember often getting a bit fed up with all those ‘buzzwords’, but in the end, this is really what I mostly took from my time at UCG, making me feel well prepared for my Research Master.

How was your experience at Master Market? What was your biggest takeaway from it?

Even though I was not sure to continue with my Master’s at the RUG, visiting the Master Market definitely helped me getting started with the whole process of thinking what I want to do after UCG – it became less scary once I started actively taking ownership of this process. Also, it really helped me getting an overview of what is out there- surprisingly, many interesting programmes are offered by Faculties I might have not looked at in the first place.

How was your transition from studying at UCG to a graduate program (which one)? Was it smooth or challenging coming from UCG?

I am doing a Research Master programme in Migration, Ethnic Relations and Multiculturalism at Utrecht University. It is a small interdisciplinary programme that shares many similarities with UCG- many presentations, small assignments throughout the semester, debates and group work. In that sense, I feel perfectly equipped with the relevant skills from my bachelor’s at UCG! For sure, there are a few things I needed to adapt to, such as the demanding workload and advanced statistics, but the flexibility required at UCG prepared me well for this.

"Independent learning, critical thinking and presentation skills – and definitely dealing with a lot of uncertainty without getting completely desperate!"

Any tips/advice for new and current UCG students?

Do not let this whole ‘after UCG’ thing freak you out too much! Break the whole process into small things - make use of your valuable network at UCG, talk to your teachers. Seek out events like the Master Market or different Open Days and make sure you are working actively on this process – this really helped me taking the pressure from it.

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