Laura chooses Twente for her studies and graduation

This article is part of a series called “Twente Leeft!” (Twente Lives!). You can read personal stories here about living and working in Twente. Twente is a nice place to be, according to the talents we meet. The beautiful nature, space and the down-to-earth mentality all characterise Twente. There are also plenty of career opportunities! Twente has many innovative, international and future-proof companies that are desperate for staff. Want to know what Twente has to offer? You can find Laura Nieuwmeijer's story below.

Laura grew up in Oldenzaal and moved to Enschede during her studies. Laura consciously chose to study at the University of Twente because both the Technical Business Administration study and the university are well regarded. She lived in a student house at first but later started looking for an apartment with her boyfriend. She now lives right in the middle of Enschede, and she is following two master’s programmes at the University of Twente. 

“My bachelor was Technical Business Administration, and I then started my master’s degree. A year in, though, I realised that I wanted to do another master’s degree; Industrial Design Engineering. I still have not figured out what I want to do exactly after my studies, but the fact that I am doing two master’s degrees at the same time does show that I have a very broad interest. I particularly like process improvement in a manufacturing company and the development of new products.”

Laura has currently almost finished her graduation internship at Europastry. Europastry is a company in Oldenzaal that makes and delivers frozen dough products to the entire world on a large scale. Laura is researching how the company can integrate production, logistics, stock management and production planning even more. “I love it here. They are very independent even though they are a part of a Spanish group of companies, and this gives me a lot of freedom in my research.” 

“I will do my next graduation project (for the Master’s in Industrial Design Engineering) at an SME company in Twente as well, once I finish this graduation project. It will be focused on product development.”

“My parents both have a large network in Twente, which means we regularly talk about all the beautiful companies in developments in Twente. I am convinced that there are plenty of great career opportunities in Twente, partly because of this. Many of my friends often say that you need to go to the west of the country if you want to make a career, but I strongly disagree. What’s more: Twente has many small companies, and I think that that is way more fun than working for a large company where you play a relatively small role. I feel like you get a larger range of tasks when you work for a smaller company, and this gives you many more opportunities for developing yourself.” 

“Putting work aside, I just feel very safe and at home in Twente. I like the people here; they feel like family. People greet each other here and ask each other how their weekend was, for example. I also love the combination of nature and the towns and villages. I live in Enschede, which gives me everything I need in a city, but I can also enjoy nature here.”

Laura will stay in Twente forever if it is up to her. However, she does want to embark on a little adventure abroad first. “I would love to go to Italy for a few months after I finish studying. I love their language and delicious food, and I want to learn more about it. I have been dreaming of discovering the Italian language and cuisine and learning all about it for more than ten years. So, if the corona crisis allows it by then, I would love to make that dream come true. But after that, I will be looking for a nice job in Twente!”

Twente lives
Twente is the ideal place to live and work, according to the talents we meet. Want to know why? Read personal stories about living and making a career in Twente on twente.com/twente-leeft. Want to look for a job immediately? Then take a look at our extensive job site.