Student voice 23 Jan 2019

Julian Jeanne, alumnus 2018: "Travel broadens the mind"

By Lucile Jaillais, Communications specialist
Photograph by CIS Communications

After graduating in May 2018, Julian and his family went to his home country, the Netherlands, for the summer. After the holidays, his parents relocated to Jakarta. Julian stayed in the Netherlands to start studying Hotel Management in Amsterdam. "It’s been 12 weeks now since classes started, and I’m really enjoying it. This is what I came here for".

The passion for hospitality grew on Julian during his stay in Singapore. "I had the chance to travel a lot while our family lived in Asia.. I always felt that, just like every trip, every hotel we stayed at was an experience in itself. I always wondered what has to go on behind the scenes to ensure perfect customer service and smooth logistics.”

This curiosity spurred Julian to research the industry and universities that offered business and hospitality courses. The Hospitality Management programme at the Hotelschool the Hague on the Amsterdam campus grabbed his attention.

Julian plans to stay in the Netherlands and finish his Bachelor degree. He is due to graduate in 2022. He is also considering studying abroad for a year in a partner university in either Barcelona or Australia. "After that, I may go onto a Masters degree", says Julian, "but I’m not sure yet. I may take a break in between to see things through".

Reflecting back, Julian shares he left CIS with some really precious memories. "I do miss my friends”, he says. “It feels weird to not see them every day anymore. Same goes for my teachers, as I had some of them for a number of years, and we built a relationship. They followed my progress keenly over the years, and I learnt so much from them.”

Something else he misses is the sports community. "I used to be a sporty guy, playing football, basketball and track and field. My friends and I were also one of the first few members of the track and field club - there were only 15 of us at the time, and now there are about 50!”

When asked where he sees himself in ten years, Julian says that although his dream at the moment would be a management position at a hotel in the tropics, he prefers to live in the present. "I want to focus on the present, making sure I get - and do - things right, so I build a strong foundation for my future."

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