The former international exchange students flew in from 13 countries across four continents. The group meets annually. The 23 previous reunions have taken place in the USA, Ireland, Sweden, Austria, Germany, England, the Netherlands and Belgium. “This year’s reunion marked the 25-year anniversary of our graduation, so we decided to come back to Rotterdam where it all began,” said Andy Crawford, global consumer and cultural insight director at Diageo, a British multinational beverage company. “It was fantastic to do a cycling tour of Rotterdam, and have social drinks on terraces and at our old hangouts in the Old Harbour,” he said, adding that the former international exchange students stayed in Hotel New York, and visited the university campus, museums and Rotterdam’s Markthal.
Building memories
At the time of the MSc exchange in 1989, the students came from business schools in 19 countries in Asia, North America, South America and Europe. “When we were on international master exchange, we lived and socialised together,” said Crawford, who mailed out a newsletter with news and events regularly after all students completed their international exchange. “The benefit of meeting up annually is that an incredibly close group of friends get to hang out together, and go back over some old memories and build some new ones.”
Linda de Vries, head of the international office at RSM, says it’s important for former exchange students to stay in touch and keep networking, for personal and professional purposes. “These alumni have more than 20 years of work experience, so whether they travel for private reasons or business, they can meet up, share experiences or even help business.”
International exchange at RSM
As one of Europe’s most international and highly ranked business schools, RSM hosts exchange students from its international partner schools around the world. Students live and learn in a global environment, a result of the diverse student body enrolled in RSM’s programmes, the commercial nature of the Netherlands, and the large number of students who come to RSM each year on an international exchange programme.