Urban planner Smari Johnsen, 27, from Reykjavik, Iceland, is a 2003 graduate of Delft”It’s been two months since I completed my two-year Masters degree program at TU Delft’s Faculty of Architecture.
Before I went to Delft to study, I’d obtained a degree in environmental and civil engineering from the University of Iceland and had also worked in an engineering office in Iceland for two years. At that time, my job involved handling the technical aspects of urban design, and my job scope consisted of working out road layouts and parcelling. But I was really getting bored with my job: it was always the same routine, more roads, plots, parcels%over and over again! So, eventually, I started searching for something new, a place where I could use both my engineering degree and work experience, and found out about the urbanism program at TU Delft. I gave it a shot… and it worked out! With a simple verbal agreement from my company and sponsored airline tickets, I returned to university life, albeit this time in a completely different environment.
After graduating from Delft, I returned to Iceland and went back to work for the company I’d worked for previously. Although it’s only been a short while since I left the TU, things are already looking promising: firstly, I was involved in a competition that my firm was selected to participate in. The work was a notable change from my previous routine, as this collaborative effort with other European architecture and consultancy firms required creative input on urban policy-making for the chosen site. And it so happened that that particular site was just next to the area I was working on for my Master%s thesis at the TU%talk about coincidences in life! Right now, besides eagerly awaiting the announcement of the competition results, a couple of colleagues and I are also in the process of starting a new planning department within our company. Although I’m now back into the same working routine that I was in before I left for Delft, I’m prepared to continue with it for another year, because I’ll be focusing my efforts on establishing our company in the planning business. With these developments, I’m feeling more positive about my job challenges.
In the longer term, I think my experience at the TU contributed to my conviction to further upgrade myself. My tentative plan is to work for another one to three years, after which time I might pursue another degree in urban planning and policy management to supplement my engineering knowledge.
Outside of work, I definitely gained at lot from those two years in Delft. For one thing, starting a new life in a different country made me more tolerant and open to people from different cultures and backgrounds. You are definitely not going to be as “selective” about choosing friends to hang out with when you’re all alone! Especially when you’re part of a minority group carved out by language and cultural barriers. I couldn’t help but feel that life was so much easier back home, where I knew all the societal rules and regulations, how to act in them, and where to find things when I needed them. So, to put it positively, I can say it was good “training” I got in Holland!
Now that I am back in familiar Iceland, I’m beginning to miss that feeling of “newness” one has when being abroad. During the two years that I lived in Rotterdam, I’d be going to a different party almost every weekend, constantly meeting new people and seeing new things. The other thing I really miss about The Netherlands is its terrific location (from my Icelandic point of view!). It was so convenient to make short trips to Brussels, Paris, you-name-it… these excursions really enriched my stay in Delft.
Yet, in a some ways, life after Delft has not really changed: I’m now living with three friends in the centre of Reykjavik , right next to the main street for nightlife. Just like in Holland, I’m spending most of my time within a small community of friends, and our fridge is still always stocked to the brim with beer! Of course, unlike my university days, I have to follow the standard working hours, but, because I still get some freedom to juggle my required 38 working hours per week and even take a couple of hours leave now and then, you can say that I’m very much continuing the student lifestyle I was leading back in Holland.
Finally, thanks to the Internet, I%ve also been able to keep in touch with many of the friends I made from all over the world during that two years through an online web community, some of whom I really care about and will never forget all my life!”
Urban planner Smari Johnsen, 27, from Reykjavik, Iceland, is a 2003 graduate of Delft
”It’s been two months since I completed my two-year Masters degree program at TU Delft’s Faculty of Architecture. Before I went to Delft to study, I’d obtained a degree in environmental and civil engineering from the University of Iceland and had also worked in an engineering office in Iceland for two years. At that time, my job involved handling the technical aspects of urban design, and my job scope consisted of working out road layouts and parcelling. But I was really getting bored with my job: it was always the same routine, more roads, plots, parcels%over and over again! So, eventually, I started searching for something new, a place where I could use both my engineering degree and work experience, and found out about the urbanism program at TU Delft. I gave it a shot… and it worked out! With a simple verbal agreement from my company and sponsored airline tickets, I returned to university life, albeit this time in a completely different environment.
After graduating from Delft, I returned to Iceland and went back to work for the company I’d worked for previously. Although it’s only been a short while since I left the TU, things are already looking promising: firstly, I was involved in a competition that my firm was selected to participate in. The work was a notable change from my previous routine, as this collaborative effort with other European architecture and consultancy firms required creative input on urban policy-making for the chosen site. And it so happened that that particular site was just next to the area I was working on for my Master%s thesis at the TU%talk about coincidences in life! Right now, besides eagerly awaiting the announcement of the competition results, a couple of colleagues and I are also in the process of starting a new planning department within our company. Although I’m now back into the same working routine that I was in before I left for Delft, I’m prepared to continue with it for another year, because I’ll be focusing my efforts on establishing our company in the planning business. With these developments, I’m feeling more positive about my job challenges.
In the longer term, I think my experience at the TU contributed to my conviction to further upgrade myself. My tentative plan is to work for another one to three years, after which time I might pursue another degree in urban planning and policy management to supplement my engineering knowledge.
Outside of work, I definitely gained at lot from those two years in Delft. For one thing, starting a new life in a different country made me more tolerant and open to people from different cultures and backgrounds. You are definitely not going to be as “selective” about choosing friends to hang out with when you’re all alone! Especially when you’re part of a minority group carved out by language and cultural barriers. I couldn’t help but feel that life was so much easier back home, where I knew all the societal rules and regulations, how to act in them, and where to find things when I needed them. So, to put it positively, I can say it was good “training” I got in Holland!
Now that I am back in familiar Iceland, I’m beginning to miss that feeling of “newness” one has when being abroad. During the two years that I lived in Rotterdam, I’d be going to a different party almost every weekend, constantly meeting new people and seeing new things. The other thing I really miss about The Netherlands is its terrific location (from my Icelandic point of view!). It was so convenient to make short trips to Brussels, Paris, you-name-it… these excursions really enriched my stay in Delft.
Yet, in a some ways, life after Delft has not really changed: I’m now living with three friends in the centre of Reykjavik , right next to the main street for nightlife. Just like in Holland, I’m spending most of my time within a small community of friends, and our fridge is still always stocked to the brim with beer! Of course, unlike my university days, I have to follow the standard working hours, but, because I still get some freedom to juggle my required 38 working hours per week and even take a couple of hours leave now and then, you can say that I’m very much continuing the student lifestyle I was leading back in Holland.
Finally, thanks to the Internet, I%ve also been able to keep in touch with many of the friends I made from all over the world during that two years through an online web community, some of whom I really care about and will never forget all my life!”
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