EXPERIENCE REPORT
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Exchange semester:
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roxy.janssen95@hotmail.com
Human Resource Studies
1st semester 2015/2016
3rd year
Ateneo de Manila University
Philippines
I GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL
I lived in Quezon City this is a part of Metro Manila. The University is also located in this part
of the city. Quezon City is the biggest city of Metro Manila with almost 3 million inhabitants,
Metro Manila consists of almost 12 million habitants. The city on his own is very noisy, you
have to get used to that. The university is located on a major street, Katipunan Avenue, which
you have to cross by foot bridge. Most of the students live on or nearby this street, with an
average walking distance of 20 minutes to the university. There are a lot of places to eat and
a few bars on or nearby that street. When you want to practice sports, there are a lot of sport
facilities on the university. The Philippines is taken for 50 years by the Americans and you can
see this influence in the University. There is a cheerleader team and a lot of sport teams. The
two most practiced sports are Basketball and Volleyball, but there is a sport for everyone.
There are also sport classes given, which are credited for Ateneo students. Unfortunately,
these subjects are not credited for us. If you want to practice sport off campus, there is Gold’s
Gym across the street of Ateneo, which costs around 20 euros each month. The campus of
Ateneo is really big and green. Everywhere outside are places to hang out between classes
and this is what makes the campus fun. In my semester, we were with a total of 101
exchange students, this was the biggest amount reached by then.
II PRACTICAL INFORMATION
I left on the 28th of July to the Philippines and received my pre-arrival information on the 17th
of July, which I thought was pretty late. So be prepared that you get your information a bit
later than you are used too. You need to arrange your own visa before departure, for this you
have to go to the embassy in The Hague. It costs around 50 euros and with this visa you can
stay for two months. After that, you have to extend your visa by leaving the country or paying
for it. If you have a multiple entry visa you get an extension for two months and with a single
entry visa you get an extension for one month. When you arrive in the Philippines a taxi is
arranged by the University if you want too. The next day you go to the OIR (the Office of
International Relations) and here they help you with everything.
In the first week of arrival, you have the chance to arrange your accommodation and settle
down. There are two student houses for exchange students, the White House and Dream
team house. If you have the chance you definitely have to life here, these houses are usually
full before everyone arrives. After one week, you have three orientation days, in which you
get practical information and visit some places in Manila. There is one student organization
for exchange students at Ateneo de Manila University. They organize activities for exchange
students and have a buddy system in which you are coupled with a student of the University.
You can search for an accommodation if you arrive, but you can also contact other students
to live in one of the two exchange student houses. Furthermore, the University provides a
booklet with off campus dorms and you can also choose to live on campus in a dorm. Not
many of the exchange students choose to live in these dorms. Usually, you have to share
your room with one or two more students. I found an apartment in one of the residences at
Katipunan Avenue. I shared my room with a French girl, which really worked out well.
The costs of accommodation are around 150 till 320 euro per month. But this depends if you
want your own room or not. Your own apartment in one of the residences will cost you around
320 euro per month. You will spend most of your money travelling around the country and
Asia. The food is quite cheap, it is even cheaper to go out for diner than to cook at home. To
finance your expenses abroad you can save money or lent more money. If you want to travel
your expenses per month will be around 650 euros each month. You can finance this by the
compensation for you public transportation card, your study allowance from the government,
and saving money or a loan. You have to be prepared that before your departure you also
have some expenses, for example your vaccination and your travel insurance.
Ateneo de Manila University changed its academic calendar this year. The first semester is
from mid of August until mid-December and the second semester is from mid of January until
mid-May. The examination period is at the end of the semester, but also during the semester
with mid-terms and several assignments. The holidays are not by forehand determined, but
you will get to know them during the semester.
The ones that will arrange your schedule and all your other stuff, is the staff of the Office of
International Relations. The first day you will go to visit them. The one that arrange everything
for incoming exchange students is Jayson Cervantes. He will take care of you during the
whole semester.
The student organization for exchange students arranged activities for us during the whole
semester, for example an introduction party and a Halloween party. This student organization
also takes care of the students there that want to go abroad. I once participated in one of their
activities to promote other universities, it was a fair in which you tell something about your
home university. There is a lot to do in the Philippines, it consists of around 7200 islands. You
can travel a lot inside the country, but you can also travel to other countries in Asia. Almost
every weekend you can make a trip outside Manila. Sometimes it is also good to stay home
and party in the weekends.
The Philippine culture is really open, people are friendly and willing to help you with
everything. The culture is also really relax, when you compare this to the Netherlands were
everything is time-bounded. A good thing is that almost everyone in the Philippines speaks
English, because it is one of their national languages. Also at the University everyone speaks
English and not Tagalog, which is the most common Filipino language. What you see is that
there is a big difference between the provinces and the University. At the University students
are only from developed families and in the provinces you see a lot of poverty.
My exchange period enriched my life in many ways. I am more open for other cultures and
want to experience their traditions. I also built up a network with people from all over the
world, not only with people from the Philippines but also with exchange students from other
countries. I love to travel and in the Philippines there is a lot to visit. I never regret going on
exchange and I will recommend it to everyone, it opens up your life.
III ACADEMIC INFORMATION
All the courses at Ateneo de Manila University are offered in English. There are also some
courses by which you can learn the Filipino language. I choose to take all my courses in the
department of leadership and strategy, because that is what interested me. The course that I
liked the most is Cross-cultural communications, because the professor shared all his life
experiences with us. The academic level of the host university is not really lower but different
than the level at Tilburg University. At Tilburg University you don’t have that many
assignments, but in the Philippines you have a lot of assignments, presentations and papers.
Your grade consists of a lot of subgrades and at Tilburg University your grade primary
consists of the final exam. Ateneo de Manila University has final exams but they are not as
heavy as at Tilburg University, because you already built up your grade. The teaching style is
focused on theoretical and practical information, in which the teachers share a lot of life
experiences. There is no differentiation between lectures and working groups as at Tilburg
University. The lectures are with small groups which makes it interactive. The teachers are
open for any question and are willing to help you with problems. At the end of the semester
you really created a bond with the teachers and the other students. Furthermore, there is an
easy access to the library, its computers and its resources, the only thing you need is your
student card.
Description of Courses
Course
LS 142 cross-cultural
communications (BA)
Prerequisites
None
Exam
Written
ECTS
6
Comments
Mid-term,
presentations, papers
LS 155
Entrepreneurial
Mindset (BA)
None
Assignments
6
Many assignments,
papers
LS 132 Leading and
managing change
(BA)
None
Written
6
Written exams,
papers, presentations
LS 137
Organizational
Development (BA)
None
Written
6
Written exams,
papers, presentations
LS 170 Strategies in
the global business
environment (BA)
None
Written
6
Written exams, many
assignments,
presentations
Tips for the future students:
 I really recommend everyone to go once in your life on an exchange period, it enriches
your life and it is an experience that you will never forget!
 My host university is recommendable if you want to experience a whole different culture.
 Only be prepared that the work efficiency is a bit slower than in Europe, so sometimes
you have to be patient to have something arranged.
A picture is worth a thousand words