Graduation day for Delft’s MSc-ers

August 21st was a big day for the MSc class of 2004: graduation day. Two years ago the ‘class of ’04’ started with 177 students from 36 countries: 45% from China, 10% from Indonesia, 5% from India and Iran, and 3% from Mexico. Of the 177 students who enrolled in the program in 2002, 160 students graduated, with 20 students graduating cum laude.

Some 110 students attended this year’s graduation ceremony, with their families and friends also in attendance, many of them traveling here from abroad. In the morning, the graduates first received their diplomas from their own faculties. In the afternoon, a plenary ceremony was held in the Aula. “The ceremony was simpler, but more fabulous than last year,” one of last year’s MSc graduates said. “This year’s ceremony was much better organized. They apparently learned from their mistakes.” Indeed, this year, the graduates were given a surprise performance by the band, ‘Big Band’, which brought the ceremony to a climax, with all the graduates united by the music and clapping their hands in unison.

“I never thought this moment was coming so soon. All of sudden, a lot of things flood into my mind. Wow!” exclaimed Elizabeth Vivero, a Mexican who graduated in biochemical engineering. “I’ve been separated from my family for about 10 years, so the first thing I’m going to do after graduation is enjoy time with my family.”

Zenlin Kwee, a cum laude graduate from Indonesia, said: “It’s amazing, beautiful! I had a grand time the last two years and have now experienced a different culture. I never regretted studying at TU Delft.” In his speech to the graduates and their families, SEPAM program graduate and class spokesperson Leonardo Reyes Gonzales said that cultural diversity is “TU Delft’s biggest asset”. Other graduates agreed, saying they enjoyed studying in Delft’s multicultural academic environment and getting to know the Dutch culture.

“In the beginning, it was difficult to understand Dutch culture,” said Andrea Elumbaring, the only Philippine graduate. “For example, I pushed myself very hard and went to bed very late in order to meet deadlines. But the instructors didn’t strictly keep to the deadlines. At first, this really made me angry, but later on I learned to manage my time, relax and enjoy life. Another example is the supermarkets. Although Dutch people wait in very long lines to pay their bills, they stand there quietly and never complain. It was very nice learning how to behave differently.”

In his speech, Reyes Gonzalez also offered some valuable suggestions for the TU’s MSc program: “If the university wants to preserve its multicultural advantage, it must scout for highly qualified people from around the world, and not just sit back, wait to see who comes, and be happy with numbers, especially the euros….” From a management point of view, Gonzalez said the “TU needs to improve its bureaucracy.”
Integration

Looking back on her time at TU Delft, Monica Altamirano, from Nicaragua, wished there was ”’more integration with Dutch students. It’s a pity that our lectures and housing were separate from the Dutch students. If I were a new student now, I would integrate more and earlier.”

Living and studying in the Netherlands gave the foreign students opportunities to travel throughout Europe. Mozhdeh Taheri, an Iranian graduate: ”Traveling freely throughout other European countries was a great way to experience different cultures.” Xin Li, a Chinese Electrical Engineering graduate, agreed: ”My sister and I traveled a lot during last two years, although we were under high academic pressure.”

Many of the graduates also praised the diversity of the courses on offer at TU Delft. ”The TU has very good flexibility for improving your specialty to meet personal requirements,” said Simon Msanjla, from Tanzania. ”Although my specialty is SEPAM, I actually took more courses from ITS than SEPAM, because my bachelor’s degree was in computer science and I wanted to do cross-disciplinary research. I really liked my department’s course framework. It’s very well organized and what I have obtained meets my expectations of two years’ ago.”

While the majority of graduates were positive about their Delft experience, others were not satisfied with their academic programs. Some biochemical engineering graduates, for instance, complained that they didn’t have a reasonable course framework. They had to take 37 credits for compulsory courses and did not have sufficient flexibility for optional courses (only 5 credits). ”Hopefully, it will be changed for the students who come after us,” said one biochemical engineering graduate, optimistically.
Love

This year, some 20 graduates made a love connection while studying at the TU, meeting a boyfriend or girlfriend. Pu Jin, a Chinese SEPAM graduate, smiled sweetly and said: ”Besides enjoying study here, I enjoyed a romantic love story while at the TU. I was so happy that I met my boyfriend here and we had an excellent time together.” Jun Mao, who also met her boyfriend here, said: ”We’re going to be married when we return to China.”

Jin’s parents traveled from China to Delft to attend their daughter’s graduation. Her father said, ”We’re very proud of her. We’ve seen that she has gained self-confidence while here, as well as the ability to achieve. She has also improved her self-management. It was worth the money we invested in her study.” Jin’s mother however was worried about Jin’s future after Delft: ”I’m not sure if the practicability of her discipline is broad enough in China. I haven’t seen many more chances for her discipline to help her find a good job than for other practical specialties.”

Juan Del Valle Gamboa’s parents traveled from Costa Rica to Delft for the graduation ceremony: ”We feel very proud of him and his cum laude. He experienced different cultures here, did everything by himself, and kept learning new things. We hope he can serve our country very well after graduation.”