By Shree Dubey
Collage by Paula Vermaas
“What are your plans for after AUC?” is a question often posed to third-year students since the beginning of the academic year. While some are set on doing a Master’s, others want to go straight into industry, take a gap year, travel or take a break and do nothing.
Emotions range from hope to fear, optimism to uncertainty, excitement to sadness. Leaving behind the community where students have spent more than two years meeting new people and forming lasting friendships, deep-diving into learning what interests us, and facing personal and professional growth, is no easy feat.
Final Year Hopes and Fears
The final year at AUC can be a busy time for many students. Alumnus Matisse Bloem was an AUCSA board member and had a hectic first semester. Mateo Abrahami de Melverda was very involved in Onstage, having directed two musicals in their time at AUC (Mamma Mia, 2022 and Legally Blonde, 2024), and was also worried about balancing the Capstone and completing a CP/I in their final semester at Right2Education.
Chynna Bong A Jan spent an exchange semester in Boston before the start of the third year, and after coming back she was very excited to spend the last year enjoying her time at AUC with her friends. Anna Házas also started her final year on exchange in Toronto, and by the second half of the final semester, she spent much of her time travelling Europe, visiting friends, and working on her Capstone.
The final year, however, can also be a confusing time for many. As his friends discussed Master’s applications, Bloem did not know what he wanted to do after AUC. Similarly, Házas notes that her last semester at AUC was the first time in her life that she did not have a plan.
Dhruv Gulatis’ final year was filled with hopes as well as fears; while he was sad to leave the community, he had a good feeling his studies had come to an end. Similarly, Bong reflects that AUC was a nice environment for her to grow into an adult, and by the time she graduated, she also felt ready to take the next step.
Having graduated as a Social Sciences major in International Relations and Anthropology, Bong is currently completing a Master’s in International Development Studies, with a specialisation in Human Rights and Humanitarianism, at the Geneva Graduate Institute. Although Bong found it a bit scary to move to another country, she also viewed the possibility of a gap year with uncertainty and wanted to keep the structure of being a student in her life.
As an international student from Bangalore, Gulati faced uncertainties through visa requirements and finding a job as a non-Dutch speaker. Fortunately, he had a solid base at the Port of Amsterdam as he had worked there as an intern and for his Capstone.
Lessons Learned From the Past Year
Stepping out of the bubble over the past year has helped Gulati build confidence in his capabilities and engage more easily in dialogue with people with diverse perspectives. “That’s where you learn the most about the realities of the world,” Gulati reflects.
Having graduated as a Sciences major in Environmental Sciences, in his last semester Gulati landed the role of Graduate Assistant in the Communications Team at AUC, as well as the position of Resident Assistant at the dorms. As his work year comes to an end, Dhruv finds that he is once again uncertain about the future. While he does not know what will come after September, he trusts that “…something will figure itself out.”
Házas’ goal for this year is “to travel a bit, to learn a bit, to work a bit…” Things have worked out for the best for her: having graduated from AUC as a Social Sciences major in Political Science and International Relations, she is currently a Schuman trainee in the Press Department of the European Parliament Liaison Office back home in Budapest. Currently, Házas is deciding where to pursue her Master’s, as she has been accepted to international relations and diplomacy programs in Colombia University and the Diplomatische Akademie in Vienna.
The past year is the first time in her life Bong is starting to realise that she has time. While high school and AUC were filled with the pressure to keep hustling, Bong is now thinking she can take a step back and take things easy as she gets to know herself again. One thing life has taught her is to not be scared to start all over again, to meet new people and start new things.
Bloem, who is currently working as a Resident Assistant at the dorms and Polders, serves as a living example of this; After conversing about the field with his father, who works with UNSDGs, he is currently taking a six-month online course on sustainable development and has discovered how interesting the topic is to him. While Bloem graduated from AUC as a Humanities major with a focus in Film and Media Studies, he was unsure of his interest in those fields and is now looking into Masters programmes in sustainable development.
For Bloem, AUC was a very special time; sometimes he misses just being a part of something, and it has taught him that it is important to surround ourselves with what we enjoy and the people we like as much as possible. Sure, the Capstone is important and we should not be too relaxed about it, but we should also not stress too much because “…in the grand scheme of things, how important is it?”
Advice to AUC Students
Stepping into post-AUC adulthood is the first time in our lives we are not “required” to do what others do, says Házas. While she admits that it can be scary, there are also many possibilities to explore. Whatever our plans are, “it will work out.”
Abrahami believes that we should reflect ahead in our final semester at AUC. We should not feel pressured to do anything. While many people may know early on that a Master’s is what they want to pursue, Abrahami decided on a gap year to figure out what he wanted to do.
Late last year, Abrahami performed in ‘A Chorus Line’ at Zonnehuis Theatre in Amsterdam late, and is set to perform in ‘Heathers’ this coming June and July at Het Amsterdams Theaterhuis. Alongside exploring his creative and artistic sides by continuing with dance classes after AUCanDance, Abrahami is also teaching Dutch.
The past year has also taught Abrahami to hold onto the aspects we gain from AUC: “the friends, the connections, the social openness…”, and try to stick with what we have learned during our transformative time here. Once he left AUC, Gulati also saw his time here being appreciated and told us we should be confident in our degree: there is a lot of value seen in students like us, who are active and critical thinkers. “You’ve grown so much [while at AUC],” Abrahami highlights. “Be confident in who you are.”
Bloems’ advice to third years is simple yet powerful: “You don’t have to rush things.” Bong similarly wants us to know that “[we] have time.” AUC is only three years long, and by the time we graduate, we are still too young to decide what we would like to do for the rest of our lives. So find a place to live somewhere, get a job, travel – this is the time to do it, says Bloem, and in the process we can take the time to be sure about what we want to do moving forward in life.
As Házas remarks, being in our early twenties is “the time to try things”: learn something new and travel while writing the Capstone because, as she puts it, “I can sit at a Dutch cafe writing my thesis, or I can sit in a Spanish one and a German one, and a French one the next week.” The key, says Házas, is to find motivation and put in the work needed to achieve the desired oucome.
Perhaps most importantly: Bong expresses that in our final months, we should be with our friends as much as possible, trying to catch as many of the happy moments to look back on as we can.
Correction 19.03: The previous version wrote that Anna Házas “is currently interning as a Schumann trainee in the Press Department of the European Parliament’s ‘European Peacebuilding Liaison Office’ for Hungary back home in Budapest”. This had a spelling mistake as “Schumann” is “Schuman“, and her job is clarified to be a “Schuman trainee in the Press Department of the European Parliament Liaison Office back home in Budapest”. This correction has been implemented to accurately reflect Házas‘ job.
The Herring 