Education

My professors werent expecting me’

When Ubaldo Aleriano arrived from Mexico to begin his two-year MSc course, everything turned out less well organised than glossy TU brochures had conjured up.

However, this proved to be an advantage.

After obtaining his BSc degree from the University of the Americas, in Cholula, Mexico, Ubaldo Aleriano went to work for a plastics company. After one year, however, the experience convinced him that his career could be more challenging. Aleriano: ‘Because of its good location, many companies now use Mexico as a distribution centre for all of North and South America. Volkswagen, for example, has a huge assembly plant in my home city, Puebla. However, if production changes need to be made, the designs and decisions are made in Germany. Most companies in Mexico operate like this, so consequently, there’s no need for local design skills, and there’s no local education in design, which is something I missed.’

In search of a MSc course, Aleriano began visiting various European embassies. At the Dutch embassy, he was told advised to go to Delft, because ‘that’s the place to be for science students’. The MSc programme, ‘Production Engineering and Organisation’, caught his attention.

‘I was impressed by the glossy brochures,’ says Aleriano. ”When you’re deciding where to go, you don’t merely study the texts. You also look closely at the pictures and the people in them. What the folders didn’t reveal, however, was that I’d be the first, and only, person to follow this MSc programme.’

In July 1999, Aleriano arrived in Delft. His initial enthusiasm quickly turned into disappointment, however, when he discovered that nothing had been arranged: ‘When I introduced myself to the professor who was supposed to give me a lecture , he’d never even heard of my particular MSc programme. Then, another professor said, ‘Oh, I’m giving a course right now, so you can join my class’. But it was in Dutch. After a while, I really started wondering what on earth I was doing here.’

After a rough start, Aleriano has now settled down. Because his course is a pilot project, he still encounters some problems, but Aleriano tries to turn them into an advantage: ‘The professors asked me what I already knew and what I wanted to do. The whole project was personalised for me. I have no classes to attend, I receive personal tuition, and I have my own office in the department.’

Initially, differences in education between America and the Netherlands made it even harder for Aleriano to adapt to his lonely course of study. ‘In Holland, students are more accustomed to private, independent study,’ Aleriano says. ‘In the beginning, I expected professors to tell me what to do, which obviously didn’t happen. It was like being thrown into the sea without knowing how to swim.’

Aleriano has noticed other differences between Mexican and Dutch students. In addition to being surprised at how much older students are in here, Aleriano was downright shocked by the utter filthiness of some student’s dwellings. ‘Because the Dutch usually keep their curtains open, I can often look into the kitchens of student houses. Now, Mexico is supposed to be an undeveloped country, but when I look inside some of these students houses, I wonder who is the undeveloped one here.’

When Ubaldo Aleriano arrived from Mexico to begin his two-year MSc course, everything turned out less well organised than glossy TU brochures had conjured up. However, this proved to be an advantage.

After obtaining his BSc degree from the University of the Americas, in Cholula, Mexico, Ubaldo Aleriano went to work for a plastics company. After one year, however, the experience convinced him that his career could be more challenging. Aleriano: ‘Because of its good location, many companies now use Mexico as a distribution centre for all of North and South America. Volkswagen, for example, has a huge assembly plant in my home city, Puebla. However, if production changes need to be made, the designs and decisions are made in Germany. Most companies in Mexico operate like this, so consequently, there’s no need for local design skills, and there’s no local education in design, which is something I missed.’

In search of a MSc course, Aleriano began visiting various European embassies. At the Dutch embassy, he was told advised to go to Delft, because ‘that’s the place to be for science students’. The MSc programme, ‘Production Engineering and Organisation’, caught his attention.

‘I was impressed by the glossy brochures,’ says Aleriano. ”When you’re deciding where to go, you don’t merely study the texts. You also look closely at the pictures and the people in them. What the folders didn’t reveal, however, was that I’d be the first, and only, person to follow this MSc programme.’

In July 1999, Aleriano arrived in Delft. His initial enthusiasm quickly turned into disappointment, however, when he discovered that nothing had been arranged: ‘When I introduced myself to the professor who was supposed to give me a lecture , he’d never even heard of my particular MSc programme. Then, another professor said, ‘Oh, I’m giving a course right now, so you can join my class’. But it was in Dutch. After a while, I really started wondering what on earth I was doing here.’

After a rough start, Aleriano has now settled down. Because his course is a pilot project, he still encounters some problems, but Aleriano tries to turn them into an advantage: ‘The professors asked me what I already knew and what I wanted to do. The whole project was personalised for me. I have no classes to attend, I receive personal tuition, and I have my own office in the department.’

Initially, differences in education between America and the Netherlands made it even harder for Aleriano to adapt to his lonely course of study. ‘In Holland, students are more accustomed to private, independent study,’ Aleriano says. ‘In the beginning, I expected professors to tell me what to do, which obviously didn’t happen. It was like being thrown into the sea without knowing how to swim.’

Aleriano has noticed other differences between Mexican and Dutch students. In addition to being surprised at how much older students are in here, Aleriano was downright shocked by the utter filthiness of some student’s dwellings. ‘Because the Dutch usually keep their curtains open, I can often look into the kitchens of student houses. Now, Mexico is supposed to be an undeveloped country, but when I look inside some of these students houses, I wonder who is the undeveloped one here.’

Editor Redactie

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