Korthagen's cycle

Self-reflection of the first semester

I will talk about my first day at Artevelde. It was a whole new experience. After 6 years of living and studying in a small city, suddenly moving to a big city like Gent. That really gave me a culture shock. First day at school, getting to know new people, it was kind of awkward at first because there wasn’t a real link with the other students the first day. We were all individuals thrown in a whole different world out of our comfort zone. Luckily by surprise there were some more students in my class I knew from Ieper. This made the whole thing a lot easier for me. I tried making some friends and this was actually successful, after one week I had already made some friends and knew most of the names of my classmates. I think I did a good job adapting myself to a new situation.

 

When arriving at school it was at first a bit of a search. Trying to figure out where I was supposed to be. I asked some other students for directions and found the right local after some time. The first class I wasn’t that satisfied with my class because there wasn’t any form of connection. No one really spoke to each other, that bothered me a bit. So that’s when I stood up and tried to begin some conversation with my fellow students. Being a social person and very talkative this was no problem for me.

 

Now, I am very happy with my class, we did some activities together. For example, we went bowling a few weeks back and it was a great way to become better friends and get to know each other. It all went in a positive direction from day one. Although the first day didn’t go so smooth, now there has really been a bond created between my class and I. We became one group and we work together even help each other.

 

An alternative method would be to suggest to the whole class to go drink something the same day, but I do think this could also turn out negatively because not everybody would feel comfortable in this situation. Also as a person I do not like to push my ideas through when not everybody agrees. Such an event could turn out great and make us all good friends from day one. Or it could be a disaster and make us have the wrong assumptions about each other.

 

I achieved what I wanted to achieve. This was making friends and feeling comfortable in my class. I do feel accepted and feel like I have made some good contacts. Now I will try to maintain these relations and possibly try to improve them. Maybe in the future they could be of great essence when doing business.

Self reflection on the first year

Now, after almost completing my first year at Artevelde University College. I realized that I made the right decision choosing for the course of IBM. It is a course which suits me in every aspect and will enlighten my personality. I feel like IBM is not just a course I chose because I didn’t know what to choose but rather a course that will help me reach unforeseen goals in my life.

 

After 9 months of IBM I realized that I am still a long way of being a successful manager. During the year I learned a lot of how I could improve myself, but there are still a lot of points I will have to work on. I learned after this year that I will need more discipline to attend classes, I also need more discipline to keep up with school work and not postponing. Listening to what people say and not only follow my own way of thinking. Those are mainly the things that I still have to work on, but there are other points I'm glad I have learned to be good at. Being an active group member during group works. Speaking in front of a group or giving a presentation. Those are the things that I got better at during this first year.

 

From this moment on I am looking forward to the second year of IBM, whilst making this portfolio I realized what is expected from me as an IBM student. In a way I could say that this portfolio inspires me to be more persistent in seeing through the upcoming exams. I realize what I am studying will give a great opportunity in the future and in the business world.