I really enjoyed working with my team these last few days. On the first day that we met them, we were very productive and got to know each other pretty well. The day after, they took us on a tour around the city where we stopped at McDonalds, went to a park, and got dinner. Two of our teammates are Lithuanian and I feel like I’ve gotten to know them the best. We talked a lot about the difference between Texas and Lithuania and I feel like we convinced them to visit by the end of the conversation. Similarly, I really want to visit Lithuania now. There are actually a lot of international students at UvA as it is known as the “international school” in Amsterdam. Workwise it has been a great experience working with the international students. We got through most of our interviews in one day and they are generally very productive.
I have also really enjoyed our field trips that we have taken, my favorite being the STRAAT museum where we got to view works of street art and make our own graffiti on a spare wall.
I also really enjoyed our visit to the AMS Institute where we learned about the different ventures that are being started there. My favorite was Roboat which is a new company that is making autonomous boats for transportation around the canals. A couple days after our visit some students and I came back for a networking event and we got to ride in a prototype Roboat.
I asked a lot of questions about the sensors in the Roboat and I learned that it is actually very similar to what I’ve done with autonomous drones which was pretty interesting. I was even able to get the linkedIn of one of the team members of Roboat.
The day after this, we started class by walking around Amsterdam and saying hi to random people on the street. We then asked them for directions back to the business school, asked them to draw a physical map, and asked for their phone number to call them in case we get lost along the way. Only one group was successful at getting the phone number but we all had to go through the communal embarrassment. I actually really enjoyed this challenge as it put me outside of my comfort zone and shifted my attitude. At the start of the exercise I was focused more so on how awkward each interaction was going to be before I even said hi but by the end I was less concerned with how I looked and more focused on the person I was talking to and getting to know them. I stopped overthinking the interactions which actually helped them be less awkward too.
The day before this we also did a cool exercise where each person in groups of three were given different identities such as artist, child, architecte, etc… and we had to walk around the city and observe the different everyday objects through the perspective of our given identity. This exercise was to help us understand that even though you and another person can look at the exact same object, you will see it differently because everyone has different perspectives. Understanding someone else’s perspective can allow you to create better solutions for problems that arise in their life.
These last two exercises were probably where I struggled the most but they are also where I learned the most. I am really enjoying my experience so far and I can’t wait to learn more. I also can’t wait for Paris and try the different food cuisines.