Author Archives: amandatankink

We started the day off by joining the online walk-in hour with Jolijn and Nils. We wanted to ask a few questions about our timeline and about our cost benefit analysis. What I really appreciate about these walk-in hours, is that the teachers really take the time for us. Although it is only one hourContinue reading “Monday 15-06”

Today we had more of a chill day. This was the only day of the week that the weather was really nice and therefore we decided to each work on our own schedule. In the beginning of the day, we made a plan of what needed to get done. This included mainly implementing Brigitte’s feedbackContinue reading “Friday 12-06”

Today we continued working on step 7 of our alternative assignment, which is all about the implementation of the solution. Yesterday, we finished giving answers to the various questions that are associated with implementing our idea. Today, we started looking at websites we could use and we started playing around a bit with the designs.Continue reading “Thursday 11-06”

Today we finished answering the following questions: Explain the problem and the causes and consequences of the problem to them Quantify the (negative) consequences of the problem What part of the problem do you want to solve How do you want to solve it What actions/steps do the subjects and stakeholders need to take toContinue reading “Wednesday 10-06”

Today was a very productive day! It made me really happy to have finished the first draft version of our cost benefit analysis. As mentioned in my previous blog posts, we had a difficult time quantifying the costs and benefits. We sent out multiple emails to various companies, asking about financial advice regarding our project.Continue reading “Tuesday 09-06”

Today we started fresh after having a chill weekend and looked at our cost benefit analysis again. We received a few emails back from the companies about our financial questions. However, it seems that a lot of people do not completely understand that it is not an actual business inquiry and they have responded withContinue reading “Monday 08-06”

Today we had our weekly meeting with Brigitte. We expressed our frustration and struggles about the cost benefit analysis with her and she gave us some tips on what costs we can already quantify. It was good to gain some new perspectives again because we have been very focused on one specific cost. Additionally, weContinue reading “Friday 05-06”

Today we had the walk-in hour with Jolijn and Nils. I secretly like that it’s never that busy and we are most of the time the only ones online, because it allows us to get all the attention and time to ask our questions. They advised us to start emailing companies with a legit propositionContinue reading “Thursday 04-06”

Today we kept working on the cost benefit analysis. We are finding it hard to make progress because we feel like we are a bit stuck regarding the costs. To seek some extra help, we also sent a message to our previous Risk Analysis lecturer Tariq Abbasi. He is very knowledgeable about finance so weContinue reading “Wednesday 03-06”

Today we focused again on the cost benefit analysis. We did research on all the costs and benefits and started working on a draft analysis. However, we find it really difficult to come up with the actual costs associated with our solution, because it is all a hypothesis. Therefore, we send Jolijn a message toContinue reading “Tuesday 02-06”

Today we mostly finished processing all of Brigitte’s feedback into our document. Right now, we are already focussing on the second to last step of the project, which is about the costs and benefits of our solution. I feel like this is the hardest part so far and I feel a bit uneducated regarding thisContinue reading “Friday 29-05”

Today we had our weekly meeting with Brigitte. She always helps us look at our project from a different, more critical perspective and gave us some great tips again this week. Since we had worked on amplifying and elaborating on our solution, her advice was mostly directed towards this. Some of the tips she gaveContinue reading “Thursday 28-05”

Today we finished the last question of step 5 and we plan on asking for help on the 3rd question tomorrow during our meeting with Brigitte. It feels good to know that we are making good progress and are already at the second to last step of the whole assignment. However, we all feel likeContinue reading “Wednesday 27-05”

Today we finished writing down our conversations with the 20 people from our target group about our most promising solutions. Having these all together in one place makes it much more clear and easier for us to draw conclusions. The rest of the day we focused on the next step of our project, which isContinue reading “Tuesday 26-05”

We started today off by visiting the virtual walk-in hour organized by Jolijn and Nils. I really appreciate these hours because they are helpful when we run into problems or doubts. Before the meeting started, we made a short list of questions regarding: The mindmap. We followed the instructions from the alternative assignment guide butContinue reading “Monday 25-05”

Today, as mentioned in my last blog, I talked to people around me for inspiration for ‘offline’ solutions. This helped me look at our problem and solution from a different perspective, since it is easy to fall in a rabbit hole of ‘online’ solutions. My dad had a suggestion I really liked about Animal-assisted therapy,Continue reading “Friday 22-05”

Today we had our meeting with Brigitte. We talked about the adjustments we had made, following her feedback from last week, and about our brainstorming sessions from the beginning of this week. She was really excited with us about the brainstorming process and understood where our ideas were coming from. However, she also noticed thatContinue reading “Wednesday 20-05”

Today we proceeded with the brainstorming process. We decided to use the brown paper method, which allows every one of us to first think individually of solutions, and then ask for feedback from each other. This allows us to get more creative. We made a lot of progress today and have come up with multipleContinue reading “Tuesday 19-05”

Today we focused on making a plan for this week and adding additional research information that was published over the weekend. Friday afternoon, I actually received a call from Jolanda (the founder of JoinUs who we talked with last week) to ask if I wanted to do an interview with NOS about loneliness amongst youngstersContinue reading “Monday 18-05”

Today we finished our conversations with students to check our assumptions and we made a final list of requirements for a solution. This last part was fairly difficult, since we found it hard to think of requirement for a solution without having an actual solution in mind yet. We also approached a teacher from school,Continue reading “Friday 15-05”

Today we started off with a meeting with Brigitte. We sent her our updated document yesterday so she could have a look at it beforehand and she had some truly great points of improvement for us. I really appreciate her critical questions and her advice, because it makes us check everything (at least) twice andContinue reading “Thursday 14-05”

Today we finished our list of assumptions and discussed these with fellow students/friends/classmates. It was really interesting to hear their view on our assumptions and it was a good way to look at them from a different perspective. Furthermore, we had our second interview with an expert today. We talked to Bart Oosting, who isContinue reading “Wednesday 13-05”

Today we had our first interview with an expert! Jolanda van Gerwe was willing to take 15 minutes out of her day to talk to us and answer some of our questions, which I was really excited about. She is the founder of JoinUs, which is a Dutch organization that helps youngsters with feelings ofContinue reading “Tuesday 12-05”

Today it’s Monday, which always feels like a fresh start of the week for me. We started today off with the walk-in hour to ask some questions about the quantification of our problem, since we find this a bit difficult. Jolijn also told us, just as Brigitte did, to narrow down our target group andContinue reading “Monday 11-05”

Today we approached quite a few experts via LinkedIn. We mostly searched for student psychologists and other experts in the field of loneliness, because they fit our problem best. We already got some responses and are excited about the other answers to come. I can already tell I really enjoy this step of the process,Continue reading “Friday 08-05”

Today we mainly worked on narrowing down our target group. To do this, we had to thoroughly take a look at our research and make a smart decision about what group of people fits our problem/solution best. Furthermore, we took into account the advice Brigitte gave in our last meeting and started working on adjustingContinue reading “Thursday 07-05”

Today we had our second meeting with Brigitte! We prepared really well and sent the document of our progress to her the night before, so she could already read through it a bit. Our main concern / struggle had to do with quantifying our target group. We still find this difficult and are planning toContinue reading “Wednesday 06-05”

It’s liberation day today in the Netherlands. However, it is spent as no other liberation day has been spent before. Namely, without any big celebrations. I really miss going out and having fun with friends and also feel like it has really been getting to me today, seeing all the throwback pictures from the lastContinue reading “Tuesday 05-05”

Today we mostly worked on the problem definition, because this is what Brigitte asked us to focus on. We made a lot of progress and our goal is to finish it tomorrow, so we have enough information to discuss during our weekly phone call which will happen on Wednesday. Additionally, I finished the first moduleContinue reading “Monday 04-05”

It’s May already! Although we are in quarantine, I feel like the last few weeks have passed by so fast. Today we all finished our individual research on the problem definition. What is left to do now, is to combine our parts into one coherent text. I am glad we are staying productive and IContinue reading “Friday 01-05”

Today we focused a lot on our problem definition. We mainly communicate through WhatsApp video calling, and also did that today. The research we had done thus far was already quite extensive, but we decided to each do some more and also start writing our findings in our own words. After having done this, weContinue reading “Thursday 30-04”

Today we had our first meeting with our mentor, Brigitte! It was really nice, and I believe that she can be a great asset and help to our team. She asked critical questions and I got the feeling that she can be quite strict when needed, which I think is something we need to stayContinue reading “Wednesday 29-04”

We found a mentor! She is called Brigitte and she is an ex-colleague of my mom. She has a background in psychology and is currently a study advisor, which perfectly suits our assignment. We planned our first meeting with her for tomorrow to discuss the assignment and hers and our expectations. Today I finished theContinue reading “Tuesday 28-04”

Today is the celebration of our King, therefore, we take today a bit slower than usual. Nonetheless, we have started working on our analysis of the questionnaire! I have played around a bit with SPSS over the weekend, and hope I can make a sufficient analysis with this program. However, we have only used thisContinue reading “Monday 27-04 (Kingsday)”

Today we already received about 30 responses on our survey and we have started to analyze these already. As mentioned in my previous post, it looks very promising and we hope that our hypothesis is true. Furthermore, we are looking into the best ways to analyze our data. The platform we used for our questionnaireContinue reading “Friday 24-04”

Today we sent our questionnaire to friends and family. Our aim is to reach at least 50 responses, preferably ranging from all different age groups, to get the best picture possible. Additionally, I posted our questionnaire on my LinkedIn page, which Viragini and Sofie then could share. I already notice that this was a goodContinue reading “Thursday 23-04”

Today we perfected our questionnaire. It consists of 15 questions, ranging from very specific ones to broader questions. However, every question is multiple choice, so that the threshold to fill in the survey is lower and it will only take them about 2 minutes to fill in. We also took a step back and lookedContinue reading “Wednesday 22-04”

Today we worked on our alternative assignment again. After having done the first step of our literary research about loneliness, we decided to make a list of questions we could ask when contacting people. I want to look into how to make a eligible questionnaire that is valid to use for research tomorrow, but ourContinue reading “Tuesday 21-04”

Today I had a video call together with Sofie and Viragini. We decided that our problem will focus on ‘Loneliness amongst (insert target group) during the corona pandemic’. Our next goal is to do research on who is affected most by the corona crisis right now with a direct result of loneliness and find outContinue reading “Monday 20-04”

Today, as a group, we worked on brainstorming some more and gathering information on the various problems we are interested in. We are all on one line regarding our interests, which is very helpful during these discussion sessions. Right now, our focus lies on more social problems. Specifically, we are interested in either the currentContinue reading “Friday 17-04”

Today we had the question walk-in hour, together with Jolijn. The three of us joined this video call meeting and asked our list of questions, which gave us a lot of clarity. To summarize, we found out that the assignment should take up as many days as our internship would have still had (so weContinue reading “Thursday 16-04”

Today I worked on getting some more structure for myself. I recognized that I was feeling very chaotic in my head about everything I have to do, which I think also has to do with the unclarity we still have about the alternative assignment. Additionally, I am not quite sure if I also still haveContinue reading “Wednesday 15-04”

Today Viragini, Sofie and I discussed some of the questions we still had and problems we stumbled upon so far with our alternative assignment. Therefore, we decided to send an email to our semester coordinators and assessors about these questions to get some more clarity. However, the response was quite vague and we were mainlyContinue reading “Tuesday 14-04”

Today I had a video meeting together with Viragini and Sofie to discuss our plan of action together. We reviewed at the assignment, talked about all our concerns and questions we still have and send some emails out to find the answers to those. We also had a brainstorming session to come up with aContinue reading “Monday 13-04”

Today I thoroughly read the alternative assignment and made the decision that I want to work in a group. Together with Viragini and Sofie, who are also in my peer group, we will form a group. Although I like my independency and I found it a hard decision to make, I chose to work inContinue reading “Friday 10-04”

Today I finished the fifth lesson of my psychology course, which was about marketing environments and segmenting the market. It went in depth on the application of consumer behavior which was really interesting. I am enjoying this psychology course and am looking forward to the next session. It is really insightful and I am sureContinue reading “Thursday 09-04”

Today I worked on doing some more research on my psychology theory. At the end of the fourth session, the lecturer actually gave some references to books and articles she recommended. However, it is a bit difficult to get my hands on these books right now and there are no e-book versions available. Nonetheless, thereContinue reading “Wednesday 08-04”

Today we finally received some news about the alternative assignment, which consists of actually two options. One option is a guided alternative, the other one is fully free. I was really happy and relieved that the management provided us with an alternative so that this crisis will not result in a study delay. Right nowContinue reading “Tuesday 07-04”

Today I worked on my third class of my psychology course which was about buyer roles. I gained some insight into the five different buyer roles (initiator, influencer, decider, buyer and user) and found out how this affects consumer behavior. This was very interesting and made me curious about other researches that have been done.Continue reading “Monday 06-04”

Today I planned on starting the third lesson in my psychology course, however, I was feeling very stressed out about my Personal Learning Plan and how I was supposed to achieve all my PLOs without having an internship. Therefore, I reached out to my assessor to ask her for some advice and to find outContinue reading “Friday 03-04”

Today I continued working on my PLO3: ‘Formulate evidence-based conclusions’. By following this self-study psychology course I want to relate this theoretical knowledge to my business experience/knowledge to gain a better understanding in consumer habits and learn how to draw conclusions. I made some exercises on the theory I learned about yesterday, which was aContinue reading “Thursday 02-04”

This day I worked on the second lecture of the course ‘Defining Consumer Behavior’. It explained the three components that correspond with consumer behavior, namely cognition, affect and behavior. It was a very interesting course and tomorrow I will make some exercises on it. I like that it helps me put my marketing knowledge toContinue reading “Wednesday 01-04”

Today I started with my psychology module ‘Introduction to consumer behavior’. I completed the first course where they discussed the learning outcomes: Define consumer behaviour Describe the application or consumer behaviour Describe the evolution of consumer behavior as a field of study Describe the nature, scope and application of consumer behavior Describe the interdisciplinary natureContinue reading “Tuesday 31-03”

Today I made a schedule to start working on my PLO’s. So far I have only made it for this week, since I’m not sure what the upcoming weeks will look like and whether I have found a new internship or if I can start working on an alternative assignment. This week I will focusContinue reading “Monday 30-03”

Today I started writing some emails asking for an internship to companies that I’ve noticed are still very occupied with work during these times of crisis. Thus far I don’t have a response. I heard from the fast track about an alternative assignment for this semester for which I now have my hopes on, sinceContinue reading “Friday 27-03”

After an extremely stressful 48 hours of traveling, I am now back in the Netherlands. I felt like everything that could’ve possibly went wrong, indeed went wrong. Luckily, my actual flight back to the Netherlands went through and I am now reunited with my family. I still don’t really know how to feel about theContinue reading “Thursday 26-03”

Today I prepared the last things for my flight back home. I had so many plans and things I wanted to see here in Guadalajara, but unfortunately, almost everything is closed down. I can’t even go to a parque to study. I will begin packing this afternoon and start accepting the fact that I needContinue reading “Friday 20-03”

Today is almost over and I’m still in Guadalajara. I explained that I booked a flight ticket yesterday to fly out today to Amsterdam. The ticket was paid and everything, however, we never received a confirmation email. Just before I went to bed, I finally received an email saying that the booking company had madeContinue reading “Thursday 19-03”

Today the absurdity continued. I was up early this morning to try and arrange a flight. Everyone from back home was stressing me out a lot which made me even more urgent to book a ticket. I was making calls with the embassy and discussing back and forth with my parents and friends on howContinue reading “Wednesday 18-03”

Today was absurd. It started off exciting, as I got to be a part of the workshop that started the cost reduction project of my internship through a Skype meeting. However, early in the afternoon, I received the news from the Netherlands that the Dutch ministry of foreign affairs has marked all countries in theContinue reading “Tuesday 17-03”

Today is Benito Juárez’s birthday in Mexico, which is a national holiday where everyone is free from work. Therefore I was able to enjoy a long weekend of exploring the city before it’s time to get to work. I had contact with my supervisor about working from home. Initially, the company said this would notContinue reading “Monday 16-03”

Today is Benito Juárez’s birthday in Mexico, which is a national holiday where everyone is free from work. Therefore I was able to enjoy a long weekend of exploring the city before it’s time to get to work. I had contact with my supervisor about working from home. Initially, the company said this would notContinue reading “Monday 16-03”

Today I received the unfortunate message from my company that they want me to stay in self quarantine for two weeks because of the Corona virus as a precaution policy. I feel like they are afraid of all Europeans currently. This means that I can only start my internship Thursday the 26th of March, insteadContinue reading “Friday 13-03”

Today was a successful and unsuccessful day at the same time. It was successful because after almost 30 hours of travelling, I made it to Guadalajara, México. I arrived at 1:30 in the morning in a hotel room and planned on moving this Saturday, however, I got lucky and was already able to move inContinue reading “Thursday 12-03”

My day consisted of again improving my Spanish. Because I leave for my internship tomorrow, my mind is mostly focused on that. However, by keeping in contact with my supervisor and the host of my accommodation, I can immediately put my Spanish into practice. Although this is scary, I also felt really fulfilled when beingContinue reading “Tuesday 10-03”

Today, 9th of March 2020, has consisted out of planning for my internship, combined with practicing my Spanish. Because I’m doing my internship in Guadalajara, I plan on improving my Spanish while I’m there. Being in daily contact with Spanish speaking people, while also teaching myself new vocabulary and grammar with the help of myContinue reading “First day of Bootcamp”

Hola a todos, I am Amanda Tankink, a second-year international business student at the HU. I am currently still in the Netherlands, but I am excited to leave this rainy weather and start my internship in Guadalajara, Mexico, on the 17th of March. This blog will be used as a daily journal to keep youContinue reading “Who am I?”