Dutch teamwork…
During iSEED Amsterdam, I relished the opportunity working with various teams. My first team was composed of Dutch UvA Business School students, and Melody, who is also on the program. Our design challenge was focused around improving mental health. When I met my team, I was pleasantly surprised by how friendly they were; each person greeted me with a handshake and introduction. As we worked through the stages of the design challenge, we all brought unique perspectives and ideas; I think that bringing a team of students from different countries can lead to great innovations. The main challenge in this team was ensuring that everyone contributed equally; some team members were more motivated than others during our initial research. Besides this, everyone did contribute during the most important part of the design process, which was conducting interviews, collecting data, and highlighting pivotal discoveries. The Dutch boys interviewed a large variety of their peers at UvA, and Melody and I advanced the insights further with our own interview and observation data. We then identified important trends and decided that the pivotal problem to focus on is: ‘how could we create campus culture in a way that benefits and includes international students at Dutch universities’. Therefore, essentially we went from the problem of improving mental health for college-aged students, and after narrowing down our data, decided that international students are in greatest need of a solution.
The second team I worked with was at the Avans University of Applied Sciences. I was randomly partnered with Melody, and again, Dutch students. I noticed a big change in the ways of learning and the personalities of students in the South of the Netherlands; they were friendly, but a lot quieter than the UvA students. This was a voluntary innovation class for them, but they worked hard and seemed passionate about finding a solution to our design challenge. What worked well here was that us ‘American students’ could suggest the ways we do things in the USA as solutions to problems here in the Netherlands. One of the team members, Max, had spent 10 months at a university in California as an exchange student; this meant that he resonated and agreed with our ideas. We combined our thoughts and created 50 solutions; they ranged from mental health seminars to school-organized travel trips and diverse study groups. We categorized the ideas into possible, not possible, exciting and boring, and then decided to choose the solution of a diverse residential college system, and introduction of campus culture to Dutch universities. We created a lego-based prototype of what this would look like, and went outside nearby the universities to conduct interviews based on our prototype. We worked very well together; me, Max and Melody conducted the interviews, and Luuk recorded them. Following this, we reflected on the data we gathered, concluding that our solution would be beneficial and used by students, as long as it was offered at an affordable price.
Key takeaways: noticing and experimenting…
For me, the most important takeaway about ‘experimenting’ has been that you should let your thoughts flow freely, keep an open-mind and not narrow down too soon. Previously, I have struggled with perfectionism and this has limited my ability to be simultaneously rapid and creative. However, the fast-paced, experimental nature of this course has helped me to think of new ideas without judgment, and it has led me to think of a solution that I am very passionate about, since I am an international student myself. A further takeaway about experimentation is that the results have the most potential when you work in a diverse team. One thing I have learnt about ‘noticing’ is that sometimes the best solution is the most simple one; you don’t always have to invent a new app or innovative technology; sometimes all it takes is bringing an ‘old idea’ to a ‘new market’ like my group did. We essentially took inspiration from the American campus culture and evaluated how it could improve student mental health in the Netherlands.
Dutch culture and a design challenge…
I don’t think I could have identified the difference in resources between American and Dutch universities without actually experiencing being a student at UvA. The European college experience differs starkly from an American college experience, which is why I chose to study in the US myself, instead of staying home. I feel that there is a lot of space for improvement in Europe, as currently universities have formal and inflexible structures with a sole focus on academia. Students cannot fully explore who they are; they have to stick to the academic program they started with, and they don’t have the opportunity to meet students with varying degrees. Furthermore, there is no campus accommodation or campus life in general. A further insight I gained is that many students are happy staying at home and commuting to university. I was surprised to learn this, since in the US the norm is to move out and become independent when you start college.
Reflecting back…
The question that remains unanswered is the feasibility of our solution. One issue we could not resolve was creating a prototype that didn’t involve a significant change to the European university campus culture and structure. We decided that without a big change, there could not be much progress. To assess the effectiveness of our solution, we would have to contact housing departments at universities across the Netherlands, and potentially even meet with school representatives from the Dutch government. Without having these important meetings, we cannot assess how possible it would be to solve our design challenge.
To conclude…
I feel that there is lots of room for improvement in the European university structure, and that implementing our solution would revolutionize education in Europe, whilst simultaneously improving the mental health of the youth. What I liked most about working on this challenge is the collaboration with Dutch students, the opportunity to solve real social problems and also being able to implement my experience as an international student in the US. I felt like I was actually solving a significant issue in the Netherlands, and I really enjoyed the selection process of narrowing down ideas to select which had the greatest potential impact. Another component of the course that I loved was the opportunity to reflect on the design of many things; universities, mental health norms and even random places and objects around the city (thanks to the Norman doors and bad design assignment). I felt powerful and like my ideas could transform the Netherlands into an even better place. I also liked how the course enables you to be very creative – you can take your ideas wherever you want.
My favorite parts of the Amsterdam experience were…
- My 4-hour bike ride exploring the city
- Meeting the Dutch students and experiencing European student life
- How creative the class was → I really liked DB55 in particular and the site visit to ASML
- Spending time with my twin brother, granddad, aunt and cousins in the meantime
- Canal boat ride
- My electric bike-ride around Vondelpark (the biggest park in Amsterdam)
- Our beach trip to Zandvoort
- Views from the A’dam Lookout
- Sunsets by the canal
To future iSEED cohorts…
I couldn’t recommend this program enough! It is unbelievable how much you can experience and explore in just 2 weeks. I never thought I would fall in love with the Netherlands so much. After this program, I would consider doing a semester or year abroad in Amsterdam, and potentially moving there after I graduate!
